Four men charged in drugs-for-guns deal with federal agents

RENO -- Four men have been arrested and face federal charges after arranging a drugs-for-guns trade with undercover federal agents, authorities said.

Documents filed in Reno's U.S. District Court said Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents held a pair of
July 9 meetings in a hotel-casino with two men trying to negotiate a trade of methamphetamine for firearms, particularly AK-47-type rifles.

Authorities said negotiator Rafael Arias, 24, who served as a translator for the second man, said a source in Mexico wanted the weapons for use in drug trafficking operations. According to court papers, Arias said that if the deal went well, the source would want more firearms.

The criminal complaint alleged the men offered agents 9 ounces of meth, less than half an ounce of cocaine and $2,500 cash for 26 firearms with silencers.

At an initial meeting, one of the negotiators took photographs of the guns with his cell phone and sent them to an unidentified person.

Arrested and charged with one count each of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance were Arias, Luis Eduardo Gonzalez-Luprecio, 23, Juan Burgueno, 25, and Baldemar Sanchez-Goana, 26.

All were booked into the Washoe County Detention Facility.

Arias was released from custody on his own recognizance. A magistrate judge ordered Burgueno held without bail because of prior arrests and gang involvement. Sanchez-Goana and Gonzalez-Luprecio were ordered detained.