A judge in Baja California Sur sentenced a man to four years in prison after authorities caught him carrying two handguns, ammunition, and a portable radio at a checkpoint on the San Telmo-Loreto highway in the municipality of Loreto.
The defendant, identified only as Jesús “N” under Mexican privacy law, was also ordered to pay a fine of 9,051 pesos (approximately $450 USD). He accepted responsibility for the charges through an abbreviated legal procedure, which allows defendants to receive reduced sentences in exchange for a guilty plea.
Checkpoint Seizure on the San Telmo-Loreto Highway
Officers from a joint federal and state law enforcement operation stopped Jesús “N” at a checkpoint along the highway connecting San Telmo and the town of Loreto. During the stop, authorities seized two handguns, two magazines, and 25 live rounds of ammunition. They also found a portable radio and confirmed the vehicle he was driving had no license plates.
In Mexico, civilian possession of firearms above .380 caliber or with military characteristics is restricted to the armed forces under the Federal Arms and Explosives Law. Handguns that exceed civilian-permitted specifications are classified as weapons reserved for exclusive military use, which carries stiffer penalties than possession of permitted-caliber firearms.
Federal and State Prosecutors Coordinated the Case
The case was handled jointly by the Fiscalía Federal en Baja California Sur (the federal prosecutor’s office in the state) and the Fiscalía Especializada de Control Regional (the Specialized Regional Control Prosecutor’s Office). This type of coordination between federal and state authorities is common in weapons cases, which fall under federal jurisdiction in Mexico.
A control judge issued the sentence after the abbreviated procedure concluded. Under Mexican criminal law, this fast-track process requires the defendant to acknowledge the facts of the case and accept guilt. In return, the sentence cannot exceed the minimum range for the offense.
The San Telmo-Loreto highway runs through a largely rural stretch of central Baja California Sur. Loreto, a small coastal city of roughly 20,000 residents about 350 kilometers north of La Paz, is popular with American and Canadian retirees and sport-fishing tourists. Joint checkpoints along highways in the region have become more frequent in recent years as part of broader security operations.
The case was first reported by Colectivo Pericú.