Former Mexican police officer sentenced for illegally possessing firearms

PHOENIX — A former Mexican police officer was sentenced to 63 months in prison on Monday for illegally possessing firearms, officials announced.

Martin Eulalio Molina Lopez, 33, previously pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as an undocumented migrant, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.

Molina Lopez, who is from Hermosillo in Sonora, Mexico, came to the U.S. under a travel visa in early 2024, which prohibits him from purchasing firearms in the U.S.

How did Molina Lopez obtain the firearms?

Molina Lopez was arrested in February 2024 after he was witnessed by law enforcement recruiting U.S. citizens to purchase firearms for him at a gun show in Phoenix.

Molina Lopez was then discovered to be in possession of 18 firearms that others had purchased on his behalf at the show.

A subsequent investigation later revealed that Molina Lopez had also obtained an additional 20 firearms using the same methods.

Molina Lopez retired from the Hermosillo Municipal Police in 2021 after he sustained a gun shot wound.

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