8 arrested in North Texas Glock Switch takedown

IRVING, Texas - Irving police, with help from local and federal authorities, arrested eight young people for buying and selling illegal gun modifications.           

The group is accused of obtaining Glock switches from China and then using social media to show them off and sell modified weapons.

These arrests are tied to a larger operation to get these illegal switches off the streets.

Three search warrants and eight arrest warrants were executed across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex on Jan. 9 after a four-month investigation into the illegal distribution of Machine Gun Conversion Devices, also known as Glock Switches or auto sears, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.

What we know:

This investigation began back in September when Irving police learned one of the suspects was staying in Irving.

Investigators then discovered the group had an operation spanning across North Texas in cities like Arlington, Fort Worth and Seagoville.

Eight people, ranging in ages from 17 to 22, now face federal and state charges after Irving police say they were illegally distributing machine gun conversion devices known as Glock switches.

Court documents show two of those arrested are accused of ordering switches from China off the internet and shipping them to North Texas.

"That's why we are seeing an influx of them on the street," said Irving Police Officer Anthony Alexander. "It is almost as easy as ordering a package from Amazon."

One man is accused of advertising the switches on social media and then selling them to an undercover officer. He is also accused of advertising the sale of switches and drop-in sears on social media. 

In December, Irving police posed as buyers to catch the suspects making the transactions.

18-year-old Anthony Joel Cantu met with an undercover officer. When asked if the sear in question made rifles fire fully automatic, he told the officer, "Hell yeah, my boy," and said he had one on his own AR-style pistol. 

Since September, police recovered nearly 40 switches and four firearms sold through social media. 

Multiple departments, including Arlington, Fort Worth, Dallas, Garland police departments along with the ATF and Homeland Security helped arrest all eight last week.

More switches, weapons, drugs and money were found while executing search warrants. 

"We were only able to buy so many," said Irving Police Officer Anthony Alexander. "So I would imagine some, unfortunately, did make it out of the street. So it is a problem and ongoing."

Who was arrested in the takedown?

Marnelius Burks, 20, Marco Cabrales, 22, and Royce Weaver, 21, were charged with possession and transfer of a machine gun, aiding and abetting the possession and transfer of a machine gun and conspiracy to possess and transfer a machine gun. 

Damien Sereseroz, 21, and Gracie Valadez, 20, were charged with aiding and abetting the possession and transfer of a machine gun.

Anthony Joel Cantu, 18, was charged with possession of a machine gun, also a federal offense.

If convicted, they each face up to 10 years in federal prison.

Caden Martinez, 17, and Xavier Velasquez, 17, are being charged by the state with possession of a prohibited weapon, unlawful use of a criminal instrument, engaging in organized criminal activity and possession of a controlled substance.

Police pointed to a music video uploaded online in October, showing who police say shows 17-year-old Caden holding multiple weapons.

What they're saying:

"Six months ago, we pledged to deploy the full force of the federal government against those who traffic in machine gun conversion devices. With the help of our law enforcement partners, we’ve done just that," said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton. "In the hands of a criminal, these illegal devices exponentially increase a firearm’s lethality. We will not allow them to overtake our streets."

"Unfortunately for the bad guys, the good guys work together. It may not always look that way in Hollywood, but fortunately for our citizens, we work better together than any criminal organization out there. We promised an all-out blitz on machine gun conversion devices last year, and this case shows that our team has all the momentum. I would like to thank the Irving Police Department, specifically their ultra talented detective team, and all our law enforcement partners for this collective win for the people of the DFW metroplex," stated ATF Dallas Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey C. Boshek II.

"I want to commend the collaborative effort between the Irving Police Department and ATF Dallas in addressing the serious issue of illegal firearm modifications. Our commitment to public safety remains unwavering, and we will continue to work diligently to prevent the proliferation of dangerous weapons in our community," said Boshek.

The backstory:

Thursday’s takedown was part of "Operation Texas Kill Switch," a statewide initiative taking aim at machine gun conversion devices, also known as "switches," which transform commercially available semi-automatic firearms into fully-automatic weapons capable of firing faster than military-grade machine guns.

Launched by U.S. Attorneys Leigha Simonton, Alamdar Hamdani, Damien Diggs, and Jaime Esparza in June 2024, Operation Texas Kill Switch relies on partnerships with state and local law enforcement as well as rewards offered by Crime Stoppers.

Last October, Juan Angel Rendon, of Haltom City, pleaded guilty for illegal possession of a machine gun. He was seen on social media randomly opening fire out of a moving vehicle using a switch-equipped handgun.

Rendon’s arrest and conviction was part of the statewide federal initiative.

The recent arrests were also part of Irving Police Department’s "Operation Reel Switch," targeting the illegal possession and distribution of machine gun conversion devices in the metroplex. A partnership between Irving Police, ATF Dallas and Homeland Security Investigations Dallas, Operation Reel Switch was launched in September 2024. 

To date, law enforcement involved in "Operation Texas Kill Switch" have seized 38 machine gun conversion devices and several guns. 

What is a switch?

Why you should care:

About an inch long, switches may be made of metal or plastic and can be printed on commercially available 3D printers. They generally slot into the butt of a gun and allow the shooter to fire "full auto," unloading dozens of rounds with a single pull of the trigger. (In contrast, regular semi-automatic firearms require a separate trigger pull for each round fired.) 

"We’re here to talk about a roughly one-inch piece of plastic. It looks innocuous enough, a little like a lego or a k’nex block. But this one-inch piece of plastic is killing people," U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton said at a press conference in June. "Machinegun conversion devices can turn Second Amendment-protected firearms into illegal weapons of war, and petty criminals into brutal killers. We cannot have our streets turned into war zones. We cannot – and we will not – allow switches to proliferate in north Texas."

To date, switches have been used in numerous fatal shootings, including at least one juvenile mass shooting and multiple police killings.

Except in very limited circumstances, possession of a switch is illegal, as the National Firearms Act classifies the switch itself as a machine gun.

Yet the number of switches recovered by law enforcement has risen dramatically in the past few years. 

Between 2017 and 2023, Texas-based ATF agents seized 991 switches; 490 of those, 50 percent, were seized just last year. They are often sold on social media, marketed to adults and juveniles alike.

"I have been in this business for a long time, and nothing scares me more than the rapid flood of machine gun conversion devices on the streets of Texas and beyond. Rest assured that ATF and its partners are doing everything we can to stop the flow of these things and to prevent the carnage they can create. I applaud our U.S. Attorney partners for their willingness to aggressively prosecute these criminals and gangsters" stated ATF Dallas Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey C. Boshek II.