A Colombian national living in Marietta has been charged with smuggling stolen firearms from Georgia to drug cartel members in Colombia, federal authorities said.
David Andres Perez-Pelaez, 30, also known as Andres Zapata, was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 10. He faces charges of unlawfully exporting firearms and fraudulently shipping firearms to Colombia, and possessing and disposing of stolen firearms.
According to acting U.S. attorney John Horn and the charges, Colombian authorities in March 2013 intercepted a package sent from Marietta to Medellin, Colombia at the Bogota airport. The package contained three disassembled firearms—two .40 caliber Glock pistols and a 9mm Taurus pistol— and five pistol magazines and ammunition, all hidden in a piece of equipment.
One of the Glock pistols was stamped as property of the Clayton County police and had been reported stolen, authorities noted. The other Glock pistol, also reported stolen, was traced back to a seller and purchaser in Milledgeville. The Taurus pistol had been reported stolen from a gun shop in Marietta.
The package had been sent, under the alias “Andres Zapata,” by Perez-Pelaez, authorities said, to individuals connected to a drug cartel in Colombia.
Perez-Pelaez at first acquired firearms from licensed firearms dealers and gun shows, authorities said, but eventually bought stolen firearms from the secondary market to avoid detection. He illegally shipped about 15 firearms in total, authorities said, and received payment via Western Union.
“Illegal gun trafficking is a major problem in Georgia, but what makes this case even worse is that the defendant is alleged to have shipped stolen guns to Medellin Cartel members in Colombia,” Horn said. “Colombian cartels don’t need more guns to promote their violent activities, and we at home don’t need a market to reward gun thieves for adding dangerous weapons to the drug trade. This defendant is alleged to have done both.”
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