Here's a tip for wannabe arms smugglers: Don't "friend" your weapons buyers on Facebook.
Fabian Lojano-Lojano of Minneapolis did just that when he tried to smuggle AK-47 parts to associates in Paraguay without a proper license, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Lojano is described in court papers as an illegal immigrant from Ecuador who was ordered to leave the United States in March 2010. Not long after that, he allegedly began shipping arms parts. He was charged in a federal criminal complaint in May, worked out a plea bargain, and is scheduled to plead guilty Oct. 25 to a single smuggling charge issued in federal court this week. He could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
Lojano's customers appear to be associated with a relatively new Paraguayan security and business intelligence-gathering firm called Delta Protective Services, court records say. The firm's website describes it as a subsidiary of a Minnesota corporation of the same name.
Investigators said they found one of the Paraguayan firm's employees among Lojano's Facebook friends. The Paraguayan firm did not respond Friday to an e-mail seeking comment.
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Jon Smithberg, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations assigned to the "Counter Proliferation Group," which investigates arms smuggling, said in a sworn statement the investigation began in July 2010, based on a call from a United Parcel Service employee.
The employee grew suspicious of Lojano -- who used the alias Juan Vargas -- because a box of "T-shirts" he wanted to ship to Florida seemed unusually heavy, and because he wanted it shipped by the more costly air freight rather than the standard ground method, Smithberg said. UPS opened the box and found it contained rifle parts.
Agents with Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and U.S. Customs and Border Protection found that Lojano sent the rifle parts to a Miami-based freight forwarder called American Fast Cargo, Smithberg said. Records show that the parts were destined to be shipped by DHL Express to three individuals in Asuncion, Paraguay: Edgar and Gustavo Fretes and Carlos Caceres.
Investigators found a photo of Edgar Fretes among Lojano's Facebook friends.
Shipping records indicated that Lojano was one of several people who had sent some 46 packages to those three individuals in Paraguay since September 2009, Smithberg said. About 20 of the shipments originated with Lojano, he said. The boxes were labeled as containing clothes, silverware and other items but said nothing of arms parts.
Just three of the boxes examined by investigators had enough parts to assemble six working AK-47s, Smithberg said. A search of Lojano's residence turned up two boxes of parts and accessories for M-4 and AK-47 rifles. The investigation is continuing.
According to the website LinkedIn, James T. Bardon of Fridley was CEO of Delta Protective Services in Minnesota from 1996 through 2006. He became a New Hope police officer in May 2004, his LinkedIn profile says. Bardon could not be reached Friday for comment. The company's phones have been shut down and it appears to be out of business.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
