TAMPA, Florida — Two Ohio men were arrested in early March for allegedly conspiring to send firearms to drug cartel members, according to a news release from the U.S. States Attorney of the Middle District of Florida.
Yuendry Rodriguez Hilario, 28, and Saleh Yusuf Saleh, 24, of Cleveland, Ohio, were arrested on March 2 in their home state and face multiple charges including conspiring to transfer firearms to commit a felony and/or drug trafficking crime. In interviews with law enforcement agents following their arrests, Hilario and Saleh both admitted to trafficking firearms, according to the Department of Justice.
The investigation dates back to 2021 when undercover agents with the Bureau of ATF posed as Mexican cartel members and were introduced to Hilario as "a trafficker of firearms," authorities said. They were told he could smuggle firearms into Mexico.
According to the Department of Justice, undercover communications with Hilario and others discussed the purchase of AR-15s and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
"One of the coconspirators described that he sold AR-15s and AK-47s to El Salvadorans and had cocaine available for distribution," the news release reads. "Rodriguez Hilario further offered fentanyl to one of the agents to make pills."
In late 2021, the Department of Justice reports that members of the conspiracy sold or arranged for the same of at least 90 rifles and Mac-10-type guns with a silencer to undercover agents in both the Middle District of Florida—which includes the Tampa Bay area, across to Orlando and Jacksonville—and Cleveland.
An undercover agent told Hilario that his associates in Mexico were "battling and losing" and "needed to purchase more firearms," the Department of Justice reports, to which Hilario allegedly arranged to deliver 40 AM-15 multi-caliber firearms to the agents.
Hilario and Saleh, who received and arranged the parts to make the firearms, met with the undercover agents on March 2. After inspecting one of the boxes of firearms, Hilario and Saleh were arrested, the Department of Justice reports.
Following a criminal complaint, Hilario and Saleh were charged with conspiracy to transfer firearms to commit a felony and/or drug trafficking crime, possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking, illegal transfer of firearms, unlicensed firearm dealing and conspiracy to violate federal gun laws, according to authorities. The two were recently ordered to be detained pending the outcome of their cases.
If they are convicted on all counts, the two could face the maximum sentence of life imprisonment.