The Briefing:
- Glen Sebastian Mendoza, 33, a Venezuelan national residing in Miami, was sentenced to 147 months in federal prison after entering a guilty plea on four counts, including cocaine distribution and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.
- Federal agents seized more than one kilogram of cocaine, three firearms — among them two untraceable Polymer80 ghost pistols bearing no serial numbers — along with ammunition and drug scales from Mendoza’s Miami apartment.
- While under home incarceration and electronic monitoring following his initial arrest, Mendoza coordinated a methamphetamine deal for approximately 191 grams of the drug, prompting the court to revoke his bond and add a separate criminal count to his case.
A Venezuelan national who ran cocaine through Miami neighborhoods while carrying ghost guns with no serial numbers, then facilitated a methamphetamine transaction from the confines of home confinement, has been sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison — an outcome that reflects how aggressively South Florida courts are treating defendants who view pretrial release as operational cover for continued dealing.
The case signals a harder line from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida against armed traffickers who treat bond conditions as a shield rather than a genuine restriction on their conduct.
A Three-Month Cocaine Run That Ended at His Own Door
Between September and December 2025, Mendoza made multiple cocaine deliveries across Miami, court records show. The operation came undone on December 3, 2025, when federal agents stopped him while he was on his way to yet another hand-off, finding approximately 613 grams of cocaine on his person.
That stop was only the first act. When investigators executed a search warrant on Mendoza’s apartment, what they uncovered read like the inventory of a mid-level drug operation: additional cocaine, a loaded Sig Sauer handgun, two privately manufactured Polymer80 pistols carrying no serial numbers, ammunition, spare magazines, digital scales, and assorted trafficking equipment. Across all recovered quantities, Mendoza was held accountable for more than one kilogram of cocaine.
Ghost Guns: The Untraceable Arsenal Found in Mendoza’s Home…