A federal jury found Victor Waldeck Oliveira Iglesias, a Brazilian national, guilty on March 19 for his involvement in a scheme to smuggle firearm parts capable of being assembled into fully automatic assault rifles from the United States to Brazil.
The case highlights efforts by law enforcement to prevent illegal firearms trafficking and keep dangerous weapons off the international black market. Authorities said the defendants attempted to hide machine gun components inside shipments that were otherwise legally licensed for export.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Iglesias, 31, conspired with Alvaro Teixeira, 50, to send eight sets of HK firearm parts kits to Brazil. The plan was uncovered before more kits could be shipped. “This case involved an effort to secretly move machine gun components out of the United States and into the international black market,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “The evidence at trial showed that the defendants planned to conceal these parts inside legitimate export shipments and send them overseas, where they could be assembled into fully automatic firearms. Thanks to the work of ATF agents and our law enforcement partners, this scheme was stopped before those weapons reached the streets.”
Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Iglesias’s apartment and found eight HK gun kits prepared for shipment. Iglesias was arrested at that time. After his arrest, Teixeira delivered ten additional firearm parts kits in a parking lot transaction he believed was with a buyer.
Iglesias was convicted of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and attempt to smuggle goods from the country. He faces up to five years in prison on the conspiracy charge and up to ten years on the smuggling charge. Sentencing is scheduled for May 4 before U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams.
Teixeira previously pleaded guilty and received a sentence of twenty-four months in federal prison on March 10 for similar charges.
U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and Special Agent in Charge Jason Stankiewicz of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Division announced the conviction. The ATF Miami Field Office investigated the case.
