8 Arrested After Raids for Illegal Weapons

The owner of one of California’s largest gun stores and seven of his associates have been arrested on suspicion of selling illegal machine guns and knowingly accepting false identification from buyers, state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren said Wednesday.

Lungren said RNJ Guns and Ammo in Carson had been selling about 230 guns a month, including legitimate sales of weapons to law enforcement officers.

During an 18-month investigation, undercover agents reportedly purchased nine machine guns. Ten more machine guns were seized during Tuesday’s raids and arrests at six locations in Carson, Cerritos, Norwalk and San Diego, said Bernard La Forest, special agent in charge of the Los Angeles office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

State Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement agents assisted in the undercover operation because of their familiarity with the Filipino dialects used by the suspects, La Forest said.

Arrested Tuesday on a variety of federal firearms counts were store owner Romulo Reclusado, 45, Efren Alquiza, 39, Hernando Domingo, 45, Roberto Arca Reclusado, 43, Rustico Guevarra, 43, Alexander Libre, 54, Bernardo Hipolito Palo, 38, and Marvin Guevarra, 33.