Man Indicted on Fentanyl and Firearm Charges Committed While on Release for Attempting to Smuggle Firearm Magazines Into Mexico

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Edwin Alexey Gamboa, 20, of Phoenix, was indicted last week by a federal grand jury in Phoenix for: Illegal Receipt of a Firearm by a Person Under Indictment; Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl; and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Offense.

As alleged in the complaint and indictment, on the morning of June 2, 2024, officers from the Phoenix Police Department responded to a report of a vehicle partially blocking a city street. The officers observed a sleeping Gamboa and two firearms in the center console, and subsequently found approximately 409 counterfeit oxycodone tablets, which the Phoenix Crime Lab positively identified as fentanyl. Officers also found almost $2,000 in cash in Gamboa’s pocket. One of the firearms found in the vehicle, a Glock, 19X, 9mm pistol, had a machine gun conversion device affixed to it which, when test-fired, operated as a machinegun.

The indictment further alleges that Gamboa was on pretrial release for an earlier indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Tucson, in which Gamboa was charged with Smuggling Goods from the United States. As alleged in the complaint and indictment in that case, on February 4, 2024, Gamboa attempted to smuggle one empty Glock handgun magazine and 10 empty AK-47 style rifle magazines out of the United States and into Mexico via the Lukeville Port of Entry.

Convictions for the offenses alleged in the indictments carry the following penalties and fines:

Illegal Receipt of a Firearm by a Person Under Indictment carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both.

Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl carries a punishment of between five to 40 years in prison, a fine of $5,000,000, or both.

Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Offense carries a punishment of between five years to life in prison, to be served consecutively to any other sentence, a fine of $250,000, or both.

Smuggling Goods from the United States carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both.

An indictment and complaint are simply methods by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

In the Phoenix matter, the Phoenix Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Addison Owen is handling the prosecution. In the Tucson matter, Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Houston is handling the prosecution.
 

CASE NUMBERS:         CR-24-0999-PHX-DWL
                                       CR-24-0922-TUC-RCC

RELEASE NUMBER:    2024-076_Gamboa

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