A 22-year-old man allegedly used Snapchat to market illegal firearms from Nevada to potential customers in California’s Bay Area — but was caught when one of his ads reached an undercover ATF agent, according to a report.
In one post on the popular social media site, Anthony Reed is seen tapping a woman on the buttocks with the barrel of a gun with a high-capacity magazine, according to the UK’s Guardian.
Another shows the Nevada man waving a handgun with a 50-round magazine while driving a car, the news outlet reported.
The feds said Reed, his roommate Rahsaan Faison and Faison’s brother Julaan bought potentially hundreds of semi-automatic handguns in Nevada, which doesn’t require background checks or recordkeeping for private-party sales.
The three men smuggled the firearms to Oakland, California, where they stored them at the homes of a couple of pals before Reed marketed them on Snapchat, officials said.
But one of his ads caught the eye of an undercover agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who contacted the suspected traffickers through Snapchat, according to the Guardian.
From January to November 2018, the agent paid more than $30,000 for 35 guns, including several Glocks and “assault pistols” with large-capacity magazines that are banned in California.
During one deal, the two brothers allegedly told the agent: “You put in the order and we can get you whatever you’re looking for.”
Reed “constantly posted videos and photos of firearms to his Snapchat account,” according to federal prosecutors.
Authorities suspect that the suspects sold well over 100 firearms in the Bay Area, where many of the customers had felony conviction records prohibiting them from possessing a gun, the news outlet reported.
Some guns were used to commit armed robberies, assaults and murders. Many of the weapons were never recovered, according to the report.
“Mr. Reed has been effectively flooding the community with guns over the past few months,” Assistant US Attorney Samantha Schott told a judge during a hearing in December.
Reed signed a sealed plea agreement and Rahsaan Faison pleaded guilty to firearms trafficking.
An ATF rep told the Guardian that the agency could not provide more information about the gun-trafficking ring because the investigation was ongoing.
Snapchat prohibits advertising firearms, but authorities said the platform has been used by several gun traffickers, including a man who was arrested last year for allegedly smuggling guns from Georgia to Connecticut, according to the Guardian.
In a statement to The Post, Snapchat said it is a violation of its terms of service to use the site for any illegal activities, including buying and selling illegal weapons. The messaging app added that it works closely with law-enforcement authorities around the world.