A Mexican National was sentenced to an almost six-year prison sentence for trafficking firearms. Edson Aregullin purchased over 150 firearms with the intent to smuggle them into Mexico from Georgia.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, Edson Aregullin, 47, pled guilty in 2024 to “Conspiracy to Traffic in Firearms, three counts of Trafficking in Firearms, and three counts of False Statements to a Federal Firearms Licensee.” On May 22, 2025, Aregullin was sentenced to 71 months in prison. Firearms Aregullin trafficked into Mexico “were used to commit violent crimes.”
This sentencing comes at the heels of research conducted by John Lott from the Crime Prevention Research Center that shows criminal acts of illegal aliens go underreported. A study commissioned by Lott’s group found that: “41.6% of voters believe illegal immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than U.S. citizens, compared to 33.3% who think otherwise.” He alleges that reporting is difficult due to the government’s handling of databases on the topic.
But Lott found through other research that after the removal of immigration related offenses, the foreign-born population incarceration rate is “46.6% higher than their share of the U.S. population.”
Data that Lott provided showed that, overwhelmingly, drug offenses make up the highest number of those foreign-born incarcerated individuals, at 43.9 percent. Second to that, weapons, explosives, and arson related crimes make up 21.9 percent. Sex offenses make up 13.4 percent, coming in third.
With a pending opinion coming from the U.S. Supreme Court on Mexico’s case against United States gun manufacturers, this trafficking case illustrates the real conspiracy involves nationals from south of the border.
“The guns Areguillin purchased illegally were used to commit violent crimes,” the U.S. attorney’s office said in their release. “For example, on April 21, 2022, Aregullin bought a .223 caliber rifle that law enforcement officers in Guanajuato, Mexico recovered just a few months later after a deadly encounter between municipal police and armed combatants. During the ensuing melee, eight people were killed, and four were injured.”
Lott wrote that, “[t]o support their opposition [to immigration crack-downs], Democrats frequently claim, almost as an article of faith, that illegal immigrants are less prone to commit crime.”
New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler has said that, “The crime rate among immigrants is far lower than the crime rate among native-born Americans.”
“Immigrants commit crimes in this country at a rate lower than natural-born citizens,” Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy has stated. “So, if you want a safe town or a safe neighborhood, you are better off if you have immigrants.”
Lott argues that these misinformation tactics were successful in swaying public opinion, hence there being more Americans thinking that immigrants commit less crime than natural born citizens. “This tenet is incessantly parroted by the legacy news media,” Lott observed.
Immigration is a hot button topic in 2025.
Rasmussen Reports has conducted extensive polling and research on the topic too. Earlier this year, they found that: “57% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of the raids by federal immigration officials to apprehend and deport illegal immigrants.” In the wake of the 2024 election, two days later, Rasmussen reported that: “32% of Likely U.S. Voters say illegal immigration is the most important issue for the next president to solve.”
Commentary by Stephen Moore, a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation and economic advisor pointed out something important to remember while this debate is ongoing. His piece, “Trump and Musk Are Right: Legal Immigrants a Boon to US Economy,” observes that: “Donald Trump announced his support for expanding immigrant worker visas.” Moore quoted Trump, “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them.”
Regardless which side of the debate an individual falls on, what’s not up for debate is that the criminal acts of Edson Aregullin are unacceptable.
“Illegal firearms trafficking wreaks havoc in communities within and outside our district,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “We are proud to stand alongside our federal law enforcement partners in helping to stem the unlawful flow of firearms to criminals.”
“Every illegal firearm that crosses our border becomes a weapon of destruction in the wrong hands,” said Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Assistant Special Agent in Charge Beau Kolodka. “ATF is committed to shutting down these criminal pipelines with precision and force. Our communities – here and abroad – deserve nothing less.”
The Aregullin case shows there’s an intricate network that’s utilized to smuggle arms out of the United States. The case also shows the importance of robust perusal of such criminal activities and holding bad actors accountable. As for the allegations that Aregullin “conspired with several individuals in Mexico,” unfortunately it’s not likely they’ll be brought to justice without severe governmental intervention.
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