ICE-Assisted Investigation Leads to Guilty Plea by Criminal Illegal Alien Who Bought More than 90 Firearms for Illegal Re-Selling

 

In the span of just over one year, the defendant purchased 91 firearms and 40,000 rounds of ammunition

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the following statement after an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) led to a guilty plea by a criminal illegal alien who bought over 90 guns for the purpose of re-selling them to anyone who could buy them, including people who couldn’t legally buy them.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon announced that Samuel Rodrigo Melo Santos, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, pleaded guilty on August 6 to the charges of alien in possession of a firearm and making false statements in acquisition of a firearm. Between May 2024 and July 2025, he purchased 91 firearms for $56,448, as well as 40,000 rounds of ammunition. One of the firearms was later recovered in Mexico. Melo Santos was arrested by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) on December 16, 2025 before being transferred to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS).

“This criminal illegal alien from Mexico pleaded guilty to buying more than 90 guns and 40,000 rounds of ammunition so he could illegally re-sell them,” said a DHS Spokesperson. “Thanks to the hard work of the men and women of ICE HSI, as well as our federal partners at the DOJ, ATF, and DEA, this criminal is off the streets and will no longer be able to continue his deadly trade. Once his sentence is complete, ICE will remove him from our country.”

The investigation was led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), with assistance from ICE HSI and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith Harper is prosecuting the case.

Melo Santos illegally entered the United States through Arizona in May 2024. He was arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol and deported back to Mexico. He then illegally re-entered the United States at an unknown date and location.