LAS VEGAS - When William Weiss used $20 bills to purchase $6,000 worth of guns from a gun store, it raised a red flag for the dealer. The dealer's tip to federal agents launched a four-month investigation of Weiss and his brother Johnathan that ended with their arrest last June for gun trafficking.
"If someone is going to pay in cash, usually they're going to pay in hundreds," ATF Agent Tyler Olsen said. "If they just went to the bank, they're not going to be paying with $20 bills. This amounted to 300 $20 bills, which is usually indicative of a drug trafficking organization."
Olsen tied the brothers to 25 guns sold at seven local gun stores. According to a criminal complaint, William Weiss admitted his brother paid him $200 for every firearm he purchased.
ATF Resident Agent in Charge Tom Chittum says it is a common scheme. "(It's) what we refer to as straw purchasing, where the straw man is the one who actually completes the firearms paperwork," Chittum said. "The actual buyer is someone else, often somebody who's prohibited from having firearms." Johnathan, a convicted felon, falls into that category. Border records indicate the brothers, both California residents, traveled frequently to Mexico including the day after that suspicious cash purchase.
The ATF says the majority of firearms seized at organized crime scenes in Mexico trace to U.S. retailers in border states such as Arizona, Texas and California. Nevada's proximity to the Golden State, coupled with its comparatively liberal gun laws, make it an attractive source for smugglers.
According to the ATF, gun runners like the Weiss brothers are helping to arm a bloody drug war in Mexico where smugglers command three times the weapon's purchase price. "Firearms traffickers put guns in the hands of an untold number of bad guys," Chittum said. "Anytime we can prevent the movement of firearms from legal commerce into the illegal market, we are likely to prevent violent crime."
Though its contents fluctuate, the evidence vault at ATF headquarters houses a cache of firearms that were purchased, possessed or used illegally, including a 50 caliber, anti-armor sniper rifle similar to one purchased by William Weiss. In the last two years, local ATF agents have tracked hundreds of guns bound for Mexico. Some they seized. Others entered the pipeline.
As for the Weiss brothers, a judge sentenced William to two years in prison. Johnathan received a five-year sentence. The convictions cut two links from the supply chain, albeit temporarily. "The law of supply and demand exists," Chittum said. "As long as someone is willing to pay premiums for firearms, there's going to be somebody to supply them."
ATF agents tell the I-Team they regularly rely on tips from local gun dealers to identify traffickers. Agents try to teach those dealers to spot red flags such as out-of-state license plates, cash purchases (particularly with small bills) and suspicious identification.
