Puerto Rico: Seven Members of a Gun-Trafficking Gang Arrested

Published: 03 April 2014

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A gun trafficking organization was dismantled and seven of its members arrested on Wednesday in San Juan, in an operation by the Puerto Rican Special Investigations and Negotiation Investigative Agency (NIA).

 Gun_pyre_in_Uhuru_Gardens_NairobiPolice said the arrest of six men and one woman from the gang were the result of an undercover operation that lasted over four months. 

The undercover agents were able to buy an AK-47 rifle, a shotgun, five pistols, multiple chargers and an undetermined amount of bullets, according to a press release cited by local news channel El Nuevo Dia

Brenda León Suárez , director of the NIA, said,"We were able to strike this decisive blow to this criminal gang thanks to work done by the agents of NIE, along with prosecutors in the Organized Crime Division. We are working tirelessly to tackle criminal activity on the island, particularly in the area of organized crime." 

Judge Edgar Figueroa Vázquez issued the arrest warrants and set bail at more than US$ 600,000 in total, for all defendants. 

The accused were identified as Rolando E. Rivera Méndez, Ismael Acevedo Hernández, Shirley Rivera Méndez, José A. Rosa Mercado, Bryan Guadalupe Ortiz, Germán García Santiago and Ramón Marrero Nieves.