Gang Arms Bust

⏱ 2 min read

Two suspected Chicago gang members, Julian Torres, 19, and Brandon Osorio, 29, were arrested on Monday after federal law enforcement seized eleven firearms, ammunition, and twenty machine gun conversion devices from their Chicago residence in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood on the city’s Southwest Side. The search was conducted by agents who discovered a short-barrel rifle and ten handguns, one of which was equipped with an extended magazine. The suspects are allegedly members of the 31st and Morgan Satan’s Disciples, a Chicago street gang that engages in illegal firearms trafficking, drug trafficking, and other criminal offenses.

The search turned up assorted ammunition and firearm accessories, and the machine gun conversion devices, which when affixed to a firearm, allow it to operate like a machine gun, meaning the gun would be able to fire multiple rounds with a single pull of the trigger. The gang allegedly used Torres’s and Osorio’s residence as a hub for its illegal activities.

Torres and Osorio were charged with possession of a machine gun and were ordered to remain detained pending trial by U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez. The case was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI Chicago Field Office, and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.

Valuable assistance was provided by the Illinois Secretary of State Police and the Illinois Army National Guard Counterdrug Program. The arrests and seizures are part of the ongoing efforts to combat gang-related crime and illegal firearms trafficking in Chicago.