Man living in fancy Brickell condo was caught trafficking firearms to South America
.jpg "Jorge Chica-Giler, 28, was sentenced Wednesday in a Fort Pierce courtroom to nearly 22 years behind bars for his role in trafficking firearms from Miami to Ecuador.")
A man living in a luxurious Brickell condo was sentenced Wednesday to over two decades in federal prison for trafficking firearms from Miami to South America inside compressed air tanks.
U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez sentenced Jorge Chica-Giler, 28, in a Fort Pierce courtroom to nearly 22 years behind bars after pleading guilty to conspiracy, dealing firearms without a license, smuggling firearms from the United States, delivering firearms without written notification and possessing firearms by an unlawful alien, court records show.
Chica-Giler, who was in the U.S. on a non-immigrant student visa, admitted in court to making eight shipments totaling at least 35 firearms, including several assault rifles, from January 2021 to August of the same year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida said in a news release. Of the shipments known to law enforcement, investigators say Chica-Giler made gross earnings of over $24,000.
Two other Miami men, Rolando Alexei Pupo-Abrahantes and Nicolas Ayala, have also pleaded guilty for their role in transporting the weapons to Ecuador and received a prison sentence of 36 and 30 months respectively.
The investigation began when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives received reports of multiple gun sales from licensed dealers in Martin and St. Lucie counties involving the same buyer, identified in court documents as “SOURCE 1.” The buyer admitted to ATF agents that he had purchased about 50 firearms in Broward, Martin and St. Lucie counties, selling all but three to Chica-Giler and another man in Miami-Dade, Broward and St. Lucie counties.
According to federal agents, the buyer detailed that Chica-Giler and company concealed the weapons by breaking down the firearms, wrapping them in aluminum foil and welder’s blankets, cutting one end of each Harbor Freight air compressor tank and hiding the guns inside. Then the tanks were welded shut and painted with black spray, agents say, before they were shipped to an individual in Ecuador known as “War.”
The buyer also told agents where Chica-Giler was living: the Brickell Icon apartment complex located near the corner of Brickell Avenue and Southeast Fifth Street. A two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit in Brickell Icon can rent for $5,000 and a studio for $3,000, according to apartments.com.
After the buyer told investigators that Chica-Giler was using a Miami Springs-based freight forwarding company to transport the illegal items, agents say they went to the site, obtaining surveillance footage and records indicating that Chica-Giler shipped two boxes using a fake New York State driver’s license with the name “Tonny Escobar.” When one of the agents inspected one of the boxes dropped off on July 6 of last year, they discovered an AK-47 magazine concealed within a foot massage machine.
After obtaining a court order, agents tracked Chica-Giler’s Nissan Armada to the vicinity of a Harbor Freight store in Miami, according to court documents. A receipt from the store later showed that at the time that Chica-Giler’s SUV was detected in the area someone had purchased several items including two 11-gallon portable air tanks.
On Aug. 3 of last year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers used a mobile X-Ray platform to inspect two boxes dropped off by Chica-Giler and another man. After detecting firearms, agents say they opened the boxes and found several guns inside two air tanks. Among the weapons discovered were seven manufactured AR-style semiautomatic handguns without serial numbers, two additional handguns, rifle parts and 11 magazines.
Chica-Giler, a native of Ecuador, was arrested in Panama in August of last year, according to TC Palm.
This story was originally published November 17, 2022 at 3:25 PM.
