Marine corporal accused of stealing, reselling weapons and ammo from Camp Pendleton
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A U.S.Marine formerly stationed at Camp Pendleton is now in federal custody, charged with stealing weapons of war — including a shoulder-fired missile system — with the intent to resell them in Arizona, according to court documents.
Cpl.Andrew Paul Amarillas is accused of using his position as an ammunition technical specialist at the School of Infantry West at the San Diego base to access and steal military property, including at least one Javelin missile system, military-grade ammunition and other weapons-related material, between February 2022 and November 2025.
Investigators say he transported the stolen weapons and ammunition to his home state of Arizona, where he sold them to a network of co-conspirators, who then resold the equipment to others.Authorities described the items as strictly controlled and dangerous, posing a threat to civilians and law enforcement.
Some but not all of the stolen material has been recovered.“The objects of the conspiracy were to steal property and ammunition from the U.S.
military and sell stolen U.S.military property and ammunition to others to earn money,” read the complaint filed in the U.S.
District Court for the District of Arizona in March.An attorney for Amarillas did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did officials from Camp Pendleton.The story was first reported by AZFamily in Phoenix.
The court documents include text messages sent between Amarillas and his unnamed co-conspirators.“Just [got] some javs and some other ones,” Amarillas wrote in August, according to the criminal complaint.“[I] have 2 launchers that [I] think you’d like, if you want to take a look tomorrow.” The text messages also included photos, including one of a Javelin missile system whose serial number matched one that he had signed out from the School of Infantry West, court documents show.
Javelin missile systems a...