Three San Diego County men who allegedly sold drugs and dozens of firearms to undercover federal agents have been arrested and charged with firearms and drug trafficking offenses, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.
Prosecutors say the men sold 40 guns to ATF agents over the course of several transactions stretching from June 2024 to April of this year.
Undercover agents allegedly told the men that the guns they were buying — some of which lacked serial numbers — were headed to Mexico.
United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California
United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California
Three men were arrested and charged for selling 40 firearms, including ghost guns and machine guns to undercover agents.
Prosecutors said the men also sold fentanyl and methamphetamine to the undercover agents, including 1,000 pills containing fentanyl during one such transaction.
The defendants — Angel Flores, 19, of Vista; Daniel Zambrano, 27, of Vista; and Ruben Ivan Rubio, 29, of Chula Vista — were arrested on Tuesday and have been charged with dealing firearms without a license, possessing machine guns and distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl. All three defendants are slated to appear in San Diego federal court Friday morning for detention hearings.