Miami Men to be Sentenced for Weapons Smuggling
Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of Florida
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Miami, Florida – Compressed air tanks most commonly are used for filling tires, but Jorge Chica-Giler, 28, found a different use for them—smuggling weapons from Miami to Ecuador. He pled guilty August 29 in Fort Pierce U.S. District Court.
During the hearing before U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez, Chica-Giler admitted he conspired to deal in, and smuggle, firearms out of the United States by directing co-conspirators to purchase firearms on his behalf, and by directing co-defendants Rolando Alexei Pupo-Abrahantes and Nicolas Ayala to hide them inside compressed air tanks for shipment to a co-conspirator in Ecuador. Chica-Giler admitted to making eight such shipments, totaling at least 35 firearms, to include several assault-rifles.
They concealed the weapons by taking two 11-gallon tanks, cutting an end off each one, and placing the shrink-wrapped firearms inside. Pupo-Abrahantes then welded the two tanks together to form one 22-gallon tank and concealed the modification by painting the tanks with black spray paint.
Surveillance footage from August 2021 placed Chica-Giler at a Harbor Freight store in Miami. This footage is consistent with the time he purchased other supplies needed for the transport, to include the air tanks, one masonry cutting wheel, and one welding blanket.
More:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/miami-men-be-sentenced-weapons-smuggling
