A U.S. Marine is accused of stealing anti-tank weapons and ammunition from his base, Camp Pendleton in California, and selling them in Arizona.
Twenty-three-year-old Marine Corps Corporal Andrew Paul Amarillas of Glendale is now in federal custody and was recently indicted by a federal grand jury, Arizona’s Family reported Friday.
He is accused of stealing weapons from the base where he was an ammunition technician specialist at the School of Infantry-West. Amarillas pleaded not guilty during a court appearance Thursday in Phoenix, and the judge ordered that he be held in custody.
Amarillas allegedly stole a Javelin missile system and cans of ammunition from the base, transferred them to Arizona, and sold them to two alleged un-indicted co-conspirators who then sold them to other companies.
Video footage shows soldiers using what appeared to be a Javelin Missile:
According to the Lockheed Martin website, the Javelin Weapon System is “the world’s premier shoulder-fired anti-armor system” that “takes the fight to the enemy.”
“Javelin automatically guides itself to the target after launch, allowing the gunner to take cover and avoid counterfire. Soldiers or Marines can reposition immediately after firing, or reload to engage another threat,” the site read.
Amarillas is accused of “Theft of Government Property and Possession and Sale of Stolen Ammunition between February 2022 and November 2025,” NBC Los Angeles reported Sunday.
The Family article said court documents featured text messages between Amarillas and one of the alleged co-conspirators, which read, “Just [got] some javs and some other ones[.][I] have 2 launders that [I] think you’d like, if you want to take a look tomorrow.”
During their investigation, undercover officers bought some of the ammunition from two companies and eventually determined some of the lot numbers of ammunition were signed out by the suspect.
“Law enforcement seized the Javelin Missile System and some ammunition from an Arizona home on October 10, 2025, and additional ammunition on October 17 and November 20, 2025,” the NBC article read, adding Amarillas was arrested in Virginia before being brought to Arizona.
The Marine is accused of stealing “millions of pounds of ammo” from the California base, per the Arizona Family Network. However, there were indications that authorities were unable to recover all of the possible stolen weapons.
