A Long Beach woman has admitted to funneling a small army’s worth of ammunition out of the U.S. and into the Philippines, sidestepping federal export laws meant to keep dangerous weapons out of hostile hands. Marlou Mendoza, 61, pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court to three counts of failing to notify freight forwarders that she was shipping ammunition — 131,300 rounds of .22-caliber bullets — to a foreign country.
The shipments, sent in June 2011, were falsely declared as household goods, a ruse that unraveled when U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted one crate bound overseas. Inside, they found a cache of live ammunition. Mendoza admitted in court that she knowingly shipped the rounds without the required written notice to freight companies, a violation of federal export regulations.
Mendoza remains free on bond as she awaits sentencing on April 20 before U.S. District Judge George H. Wu. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison, meaning she faces up to 15 years behind bars if sentenced to the statutory maximum on all counts.
The case spiraled into a broader international weapons trafficking probe targeting her son, 31-year-old Mark Louie Mendoza, who remains a fugitive. He was president of a Long Beach-based company called Last Resort Armaments, which ordered more than $100,000 worth of firearms parts and ammunition — including M-16 and AR-15 components listed on the U.S. Munitions List — most of which were delivered to his parents’ residence.
Mark Mendoza is charged in an eight-count indictment with conspiracy, illegal export of munitions, smuggling, and money laundering. Prosecutors allege he laundered over $650,000 in illicit proceeds from the Philippines to a Los Angeles money remitter during the first half of 2011. His shipments were disguised as household effects, concealing high-capacity magazines, trigger assemblies, rifle barrels, and optics.
The investigation, led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), began in 2011 and culminated in a 2012 raid on a location tied to Last Resort Armaments, where agents seized more than 120,000 rounds of .22-caliber ammo and dozens of rifle parts. ‘This was an arsenal in motion,’ said HSI Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge Joseph Macias. ‘We don’t know who would’ve pulled the trigger — but it wasn’t going to be law enforcement.’
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Weapons
- Source: Official Source ↗
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