Man pleads guilty to traveling with gun parts in plastic wrap, bed sheets at CLT airport
A man who tried smuggling gun parts through Charlotte Douglas International Airport to Ecuador pleaded guilty in federal court on Thursday.
Galo Dario Rojas-Noblecilla was charged on March 11 with fraudulently attempting to export firearms from the United States, a felony. Details of his plea agreement were unavailable Thursday afternoon.
He was arrested while attempting to conceal a “fully functional” FN 5.7mm lower receiver, two upper slides and an empty magazine in two camouflaged-style duffle bags he checked at the Charlotte airport, court records said. The flight transferred in Miami before continuing to Guayaquil, Ecuador.
TSA put the bags through an X-ray machine and saw the firearm parts in his checked bag. The firearm parts were “artfully concealed” in plastic wrap, aluminum foil and bed sheets, and then put inside of a bed sheet plastic package.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police arrested Rojas-Noblecilla for carrying a concealed weapon.
In an interview with law enforcement, Rojas-Noblecilla’s mother said he was transporting a bag for another person, a Charlotte woman, who would pay him $250 for each bag he took to or from Ecuador. His mother said he had transported “many bags (always similar in color and size) over the last few months,” court records said.
The Charlotte woman for whom he transported the bags for said she would have family members, as well as Rojas-Noblecilla and his mother, transport bags to and from Ecuador for her, court records said.
The records also said she said Rojas-Noblecilla transported bags for her six times previously, and that she paid his mother and wife in Ecuador $250. The woman also said she packed the two camouflage bags Rojas-Noblecilla took to the airport. A Customs and Border Protection officer was called in for assistance with the case.
Rojas-Noblecilla had previous encounters with transporting things between the U.S. and Ecuador, including in November when he flew into John F. Kennedy airport in New York City with two suitcases filled with prescription drugs and controlled substances, according to court records. The records stated some of the drugs were a precursor to methamphetamine.
Rojas-Noblecilla was also stopped and inspected at Fort Lauderdale Airport in Florida on March 7, where he was found transporting 35 pounds of cheese.
Court records showed Rojas-Noblecilla’s wife, brother and other loved ones wrote character statements on his behalf in English and Spanish and asked that his character be considered in his sentencing.
While his plea agreement is redacted in court documents, the records show Rojas-Noblecilla could’ve received a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both, as well as a maximum three years of supervised release for the fraudulent firearm export charge.
This story was originally published August 22, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
