A 23-year-old Marine corporal is sitting in a federal jail cell without bail after prosecutors say he treated a military armory at Camp Pendleton like his personal supply depot, walking out with Javelin missile launchers, tens of thousands of rounds of rifle ammunition, and other weapons-related material, then hauling it all to Arizona and selling it.
Cpl. Andrew Paul Amarillas, an Arizona native who served as an ammunition technician at the sprawling San Diego County base, was indicted last week by a grand jury in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. The charges: conspiracy to commit theft and embezzlement of government property, plus possession and sale of stolen ammunition, the New York Post reported.
The scope of the alleged theft is staggering. Federal investigators say Amarillas stole at least one Javelin missile system, a shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon manufactured by Lockheed Martin and RTX that has become famous for its battlefield effectiveness in Ukraine. He allegedly moved the stolen military hardware across state lines and sold it to co-conspirators.
AP News reported that prosecutors allege the scheme ran from February 2022 to November 2025, nearly four years during which Amarillas allegedly siphoned weapons and ammunition from one of the Marine Corps' largest installations. The criminal complaint filed in Phoenix laid out the conspiracy's purpose in blunt terms.
From the complaint itself:
"The objects of the conspiracy were to steal property and ammunition from the U.S. military and sell stolen U.S. military property and ammunition to others to earn money."
That a single enlisted ammunition technician could allegedly run a years-long weapons pipeline out of a major military base raises hard questions about inventory controls and oversight at Camp Pendleton. The base houses thousands of Marines and stores enormous quantities of ordnance. Yet if the complaint is accurate, Amarillas moved freely enough to steal missile launchers and tens of thousands of rounds without detection for an extended period.
The case arrives at a time when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has drawn attention for shaking up military personnel decisions, and the Pentagon faces broader scrutiny over readiness and accountability across the services.
Prosecutors say Amarillas offered roughly 30 cans of ammunition, about 25,000 rounds, to a co-conspirator. Over a span of roughly two weeks, investigators allege he stole and sold 66 cans of M855 rifle ammunition. Only about a third of that ammunition was later recovered.
The M855 is standard-issue 5.56mm NATO ball ammunition, the everyday round fired by the M4 carbine and M16 rifle. Losing control of that much military-grade ammunition is a serious security matter on its own. But the Javelin system takes the case to another level entirely.
A single Javelin missile and its command launch unit can cost upward of $175,000. The weapon is classified as a restricted item. That such a system allegedly ended up in private hands on the civilian market, even briefly, is the kind of failure that should prompt a thorough base-wide audit.
Federal agents have recovered at least one weapon system and some ammunition. But AZFamily reported that as many as 2 million rounds of M855 ammunition may be unaccounted for. That figure, if accurate, would represent a massive gap in the military's inventory controls.
Court filings include what prosecutors describe as text messages between Amarillas and a co-conspirator. In one exchange cited in the complaint, Amarillas allegedly wrote:
"(I) have 2 launchers that (I) think you'd like, if you want to take a look tomorrow."
The casual tone of that alleged text, as if he were offering a used truck for sale, captures the brazenness prosecutors are describing. Authorities say some of the stolen material was purchased by undercover officers, suggesting the investigation had been running for some time before the arrest.
The identity of the co-conspirator has not been publicly disclosed. Whether additional arrests or charges are forthcoming remains an open question. The complaint was filed in the District of Arizona rather than in California, indicating the sales and transactions prosecutors are focused on occurred on Arizona soil.
Large-scale law enforcement operations targeting weapons and gang activity have made headlines in recent months across Southern California, but the alleged theft of advanced military weapons systems from inside a U.S. military base stands apart.
Amarillas faces federal charges of conspiracy to commit theft and embezzlement of government property and possession and sale of stolen ammunition. He is being held without bail awaiting trial, a signal that the court considers him either a flight risk, a danger, or both.
The LA Times reported on the federal charges Amarillas faces. If convicted on all counts, he could spend years in federal prison. The conspiracy charge alone carries significant penalties under federal law when government property and military weapons are involved.
No motive has been publicly stated beyond the financial one implied by the complaint's language about selling stolen property "to earn money." Amarillas was an enlisted corporal, not a high-ranking officer, not someone with broad authority. He was a technician with access to ammunition storage.
That access, combined with what prosecutors describe as years of unchecked theft, points to a systemic gap. An ammunition technician's job is to account for ordnance. If the person doing the counting is the same person doing the stealing, the system needs a check that apparently was not there, or was not working.
Camp Pendleton is home to the I Marine Expeditionary Force and multiple combat units. It stores vast quantities of weapons, ammunition, and advanced systems. The base has its own security apparatus. Yet the allegations in this case describe a pipeline that allegedly operated for years.
The Javelin system is not a box of rifle cartridges. It is a large, tracked, serialized weapons platform. How it allegedly left a military installation undetected, even once, demands an answer from base leadership and the Marine Corps chain of command.
Pentagon leadership has faced sustained political pressure on multiple fronts. Secretary Hegseth has navigated sharp criticism from members of both parties over personnel and policy decisions. A case like this one, where basic inventory security appears to have failed at a major installation, adds a concrete, operational dimension to the accountability debate.
Separately, Hegseth has been closely involved in high-stakes military decisions, making the readiness and security posture of every major base a matter of direct relevance to his portfolio.
Several questions remain unanswered. How many Javelin systems were taken? Who bought the stolen weapons and ammunition on the civilian side? Are additional co-conspirators under investigation? Has the Marine Corps launched an internal review of armory procedures at Camp Pendleton? And is the 2 million-round figure cited by AZFamily verified, or is the true scope of the loss still being determined?
Amarillas has not entered a public plea. No defense attorney statements have been reported. The case is in its early stages, and the defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence. But the facts alleged in the federal complaint, missile launchers, tens of thousands of rounds, years of alleged theft, text messages offering weapons for sale, paint a picture of a security breakdown that went far beyond one rogue Marine.
When a corporal can allegedly walk Javelin launchers off a Marine Corps base for years and sell them like surplus gear, the problem isn't just the corporal. It's every layer of oversight that failed to notice.
