A 23-year-old Camp Pendleton Marine is behind bars after a federal grand jury charged him with exploiting his access to one of the Marine Corps' largest ammunition facilities to steal at least one anti-tank missile system and massive quantities of rifle ammunition, before selling them to civilian buyers in his home state of Arizona.
Cpl. Andrew Paul Amarillas of Glendale, Arizona, entered a not guilty plea March 26 in a Phoenix federal courthouse. He faces charges of conspiracy to commit theft and embezzlement of government property and possession and sale of stolen ammunition, according to the indictment filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. A judge ordered him held without bail.
One co-conspirator stored Amarillas' phone number under the name "Andrew Ammo," according to the criminal complaint.
'Just Got Some Javs'
Prosecutors allege Amarillas leveraged his assignment as an ammunition technician specialist at the School of Infantry West to steal Javelin missile systems, M855A1 enhanced-performance rifle rounds and standard M855 ammunition from Camp Pendleton between February 2022 and November 2025.
He then transported the stolen property to Arizona and sold it to two unnamed, unindicted co-conspirators who passed the material to at least two Arizona companies.
Text messages recovered by investigators show Amarillas pitching his stolen inventory.
"Just [got] some javs and some other ones," he wrote to a co-conspirator, according to the criminal complaint. "[I] have 2 launchers that [I] think you'd like, if you want to take a look tomorrow."
On Oct. 10, 2025, federal agents seized a Javelin missile system from an Arizona home. The weapon had not been demilitarized and could not legally be in civilian hands. Its serial number matched one Amarillas signed out from the base on Aug. 13, 2024, according to court records.
The recovered weapon was described in detention paperwork as "one of the Javelin Missile Systems" Amarillas had agreed to steal and sell, raising the possibility that others were taken.
The volume of stolen ammunition was staggering. During one stretch of about two weeks, Amarillas allegedly moved 66 cans of M855 rifle rounds. Roughly one-third has been recovered, the Los Angeles Times reported.
He also offered 30 cans in a single transaction, amounting to about 25,000 rounds, according to court documents. Prosecutors told the court that up to 2 million rounds of M855 could remain unaccounted for.
Tracing the Missing Weapons
Undercover law enforcement officers purchased stolen ammunition from both Arizona companies during the investigation. Lot numbers on the recovered rounds traced back to an Army depot in Utah and to supply points at Camp Pendleton where records showed Amarillas had personally signed for them.
Federal agents arrested Amarillas on March 5 at Quantico, Virginia, where he was completing an eight-week training course before a possible assignment guarding the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar. The government argued he was a flight risk and could interfere with witnesses and evidence still at Camp Pendleton.
A conviction on the conspiracy charge alone carries up to five years in prison. Each additional count could bring up to 10 years.
"The full extent of how much Defendant stole, to whom he all sold it, and how it has been used is not yet known," prosecutors wrote in detention filings.
Acting Deputy Assistant Director Jeff Houston told the Associated Press that the agency and its partners remain committed to investigating allegations that military weapons and munitions are being diverted to the black market.
A Recurring Problem
The Amarillas indictment follows a series of federal prosecutions involving servicemembers and military veterans who turned base access into profit.
In July 2024, Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Christopher Hammond was sentenced to three years in federal prison for stealing and selling government equipment at Fort Liberty, North Carolina. Hammond banked at least $1.8 million over two years, according to the Department of Justice.
Investigators found 98 firearms, 90 military-issued spotting scopes, night vision goggles and more than $100,000 in cash when they searched his home.
In March 2025, a Killeen, Texas, civilian named Benjamin Alvarado Jr. received a 10-year sentence for purchasing and reselling $2.75 million in equipment that four Fort Cavazos soldiers stole in at least seven separate operations, according to the Department of Justice. Investigators recovered more than 24,000 items, including weapons parts and body armor.
The investigation also revealed that Alvarado participated in the transfer of a Joint Chemical Agent Detector to a buyer in China through a middleman in Delaware.
Explosives went unaccounted for at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, California, in 2021. NCIS told the AP at the time that it was investigating but provided no details. No charges have been made public.
Camp Pendleton itself has seen similar issues in recent years. In 2021, at least five reconnaissance Marines from the base were investigated for stealing thousands of rounds of ammunition and explosives, with one attempting to sell stolen ammo online before being caught in a federal sting, ABC 10News San Diego reported.
A 2021 AP investigation documented at least 1,900 military firearms lost or stolen during the prior decade, with some turning up in violent crimes. The inquiry also found that the Pentagon had stopped providing Congress with annual reports on missing weapons years earlier.
What sets the Amarillas case apart from the others is the profile of the allegedly stolen items. Rifle parts, scopes, ammunition and even small-arms are the most commonly stolen pieces of equipment. A live Javelin anti-tank missile system transported to an Arizona home and offered for sale to civilians is an entirely unique incident.
Investigators are still working to determine how much more is out there.
