⏱ 2 min read
Bobby Brandon Galvan, a 30-year-old man from Dale, Texas, was found guilty of trafficking guns to the La Nueva Familia Michoacana (LNFM) cartel. Between September 2023 and April 2024, Galvan purchased 24 AK-47 styled firearms, which ended up in Toluca, Mexico for use by Mexican cartels. The investigation, led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, revealed that Galvan’s straw purchasing activity was part of a larger criminal operation carried out by LNFM, a transnational criminal organization.
Galvan’s role in the operation involved purchasing the firearms, attempting to obliterate their serial numbers, and transferring the firearms to co-conspirators who would then traffic them to Mexico. The leaders of the criminal conspiracy were identified as Johnny Hurtado Olascoaga aka ‘El Pez,’ and Jose Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga aka ‘El Fresa.’
Galvan was arrested on July 29, 2025, and indicted on August 20 for one count of conspiracy to traffic firearms and one count of straw purchase of firearms. He faces up to 40 years in federal prison for each of the two counts. Galvan is one of 26 defendants indicted for charges ranging from firearms trafficking to illegal alien smuggling to money laundering.
The conviction is significant, as it highlights the ongoing efforts to disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal organizations like LNFM, which was officially designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity by the U.S. Department of State on February 20, 2025.
📋 Key Facts
- Crime: Organized Crime
- Defendant: Texas
- Location: TX
- Source: DOJ Press Release
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