Raji Yusuf, Trafficking in Firearms, United States Virgin Islands 2016

A Puerto Rico man has admitted to funneling a deadly AK-47 assault rifle into the U.S. Virgin Islands, bypassing all legal channels. Raji Yusuf, 30, pleaded guilty Friday, November 18, 2016, in District Court to trafficking in firearms, federal prosecutors confirmed. The plea marks a critical win in a jurisdiction where illegal guns feed violent crime waves.

Yusuf, not a federally licensed firearms dealer nor authorized under Virgin Islands law to possess any weapon, orchestrated the sale between October 15, 2015, and February 10, 2016. The assault rifle was transferred to an individual in St. Thomas, a locale increasingly targeted by traffickers exploiting maritime routes and porous oversight.

According to court documents filed as part of the plea agreement, Yusuf knowingly facilitated the illegal transaction, putting a high-powered military-style weapon into civilian hands without background checks, serial number tracing, or any form of legal accountability. The AK-47, long a symbol of urban violence and cartel warfare, is strictly regulated—yet it moved through the islands like contraband.

The case was cracked through a joint operation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Agents tracked communications and financial movements that placed Yusuf at the center of the illicit deal, building a case that pressured him into a guilty plea before trial.

Now facing the full weight of federal law, Yusuf could be locked up for up to five years, followed by three years of supervised release. He also risks a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for March 23, 2017, in St. Thomas federal court.

Assistant United States Attorney Sigrid Tejo-Sprotte led the prosecution, underscoring the Justice Department’s push to disrupt underground gun networks in Caribbean territories. ‘This conviction sends a message,’ said U.S. Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe. ‘We’re watching the waterways, and we’re shutting down those who turn our communities into battle zones with illegal firepower.’

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