⏱ 2 min read
A brazen gun trafficking operation in New Mexico came crashing down when ATF agents busted a 23-year-old Los Lunas man and his accomplice for selling machineguns and hundreds of conversion devices on Facebook.
Robert Gurule, 23, was arrested on April 24, 2026, after an undercover investigation revealed a sustained operation to manufacture, convert, and sell machineguns and large quantities of machinegun conversion devices, also known as ‘switches.’
Gurule’s operation was first exposed in August and September 2025 when an undercover ATF agent identified him advertising firearms and suspected machineguns for sale on Facebook, including videos of him handling and firing a fully automatic weapon.
Over the next few months, Gurule allegedly sold multiple machineguns to the undercover agent, including a rifle with a conversion device and a high-capacity drum magazine for $1,600, and three machineguns and an additional firearm for $4,600.
Gurule was caught in the act on April 24, 2026, when he and his accomplice Izatah Hausner, 21, met with the agent and displayed the devices and negotiated a sale valued at $11,500. Both men were arrested at the scene after the agent took possession of the conversion devices.
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- Steve Coleman, Felon in Possession of Firearms, New Mexico 2016 · New Mexico
- Abel Montoya, Gun Trafficking, NM 2023 · New Mexico
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📋 Key Facts
- Crime: Weapons
- Defendant: New Mexico
- Location: NM
- Source: DOJ Press Release
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