Man Charged With Illegal Importation Of Over 50 Machinegun Conversion Devices From China To Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment charging Lucas E. Izagas Figueroa with illegal importation of firearms, conspiracy to import and possess illegally imported firearms, illegal possession of machineguns, smuggling goods into the United States, and conspiracy to smuggle goods into the United States, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) was in charge of the investigation.

According to the indictment, between June 2017 and November 2019, defendant Lucas E. Izagas Figueroa, aiding and abetting others, imported into the United States from China over 50 devices designed exclusively to convert a semi-automatic weapon into a machinegun. According to the indictment, the seller fraudulently described the items with names such as ‘Nylon Fiber Mag” and “Hardware Accessories.” In reality, those items were machinegun conversion devices with a Glock logo.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeanette M. Collazo-Ortiz and Jonathan L. Gottfried, Chief of the Violent Crimes and National Security Section, are in charge of the prosecution of the case. If convicted, the defendant faces up to 20 years in prison.

An indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. Defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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