Mexican National Charged with Being an Alien in Possession of a Firearm

ALBUQUERQUE – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Jason T. Stevens, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations - El Paso, announced that David Pasillas Martinez appeared in federal court on a criminal complaint charging him with being an alien in possession of a firearm. Pasillas Martinez, 52, of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, will remain in custody pending trial, which has not yet been scheduled.

According to the criminal complaint, on Jan. 7, 2024, while conducting surveillance at the Las Cruces Gun Show in Las Cruces, agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) observed a vehicle with Chihuahua, Mexico license plates which was registered to Pasillas Martinez. Agents observed Pasillas Martinez leave the gun show and place a firearm in the rear passenger side door of his vehicle before he drove away. Agents followed Pasillas Martinez from Las Cruces to El Paso, Texas. A short time later, a New Mexico State Police trooper executed a traffic stop on Pasillas Martinez for impeding traffic in a safety corridor. After the stop, HSI agents conducted an investigation of Pasillas Martinez, who agreed to speak to agents.

Pasillas Martinez told agents that he was a Mexican national and had travelled to Las Cruces to attend the gun show and purchase a firearm because he knows vendors there will not ask for identification when selling a firearm. Pasillas Martinez stated that he purchased three or four rifles and a pistol to take to Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico for sport shooting and planned to register the firearms in Mexico. Pasillas Martinez identified himself as a Municipal Police Officer in Juarez and stated that he knew it was illegal to purchase firearms in the U.S. and export them to Mexico.

A criminal complaint is only an allegation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted on the current charges, Pasillas Martinez faces up to 15 years in prison.

Homeland Security Investigations investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Saltman is prosecuting the case.

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