UPDATE: The Salem Police Department issued a statement on Wednesday, Nov. 19, describing its role in the case.

Federal authorities are accusing two Salem men connected to a street gang of selling firearms to undercover agents, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Jose L. Diaz-Ceballos, 24, and Jose L. Brown-Ceballos, 35, both of Salem, and Cesar D. Arevalo, 36, of Portland are each charged with possessing a firearm as a felon, the statement said. The men were arrested Thursday, Nov. 13, and charged the next day in Portland U.S. District Court.

In the court complaint filed by prosecutors, Arevalo is identified as a member of the Surenos, a street gang with ties to California, based on federal and state investigations. A federal affidavit describes Diaz-Ceballos and Brown-Ceballos as associates of Arevalo.

“This gang is known for possessing firearms, utilizing firearms during altercations, firearms trafficking and narcotics distribution,” Cameron Connolley, a special agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, wrote in the affidavit. 

Arevalo worked with people who sell AR-15 style firearms and privately-made firearms, which are often known as ghost guns, Connolley said in the filing.

Starting in July, federal agents worked undercover to investigate firearm sales by Arevalo, Diaz-Ceballos and Brown-Ceballos, the affidavit said. 

Over five months, undercover ATF agents bought from the men seven times, buying 15 firearms, 58 machine gun parts and 57 grams of cocaine, according to the affidavit.

On Nov. 10, agents met with Diaz-Ceballos in Salem where he brought a rifle, two pistols and machine gun parts for sale, the affidavit said.

“Diaz-Ceballos informed (an undercover agent) that he had additional firearms for sale. Specifically, Diaz-Ceballos stated, ‘I got three more Glocks,” referring to firearms, Connolley wrote in the affidavit.

A federal agent determined that neither of the pistols Diaz-Ceballos sold to agents were made in Oregon, which “affected interstate commerce,” the affidavit said.

In July, Arevalo sold three rifles to undercover agents in Portland and told them he would be able to provide semi and full-automatic firearms, according to an affidavit Connolley wrote in the complaint against Arevalo.

On Nov. 13, Diaz-Ceballos, Arevalo, Brown-Ceballos and a juvenile carried out protection of a drug transaction in Salem with firearms, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. The statement did not include the age of the youth involved.

ATF agents arrested the men after the drug sale, and recovered four firearms at the scene.

The Salem Police Department in a statement said that its SWAT unit worked with the Oregon State Police SWAT to search two residences on Thursday, Nov. 13. It identified the locations as the 500 block of Northwest Taybin Road, which is on the north side of Roth’s Fresh Market shopping center in West Salem, and the 3300 block of Northeast Hadley Street, just off Silverton Road about two blocks west of Interstate 5.

The case “reflects our strategic focus on violence reduction and the importance of strong partnerships in addressing gun crime,” said Salem Police Chief Trevor Womack. “While both fatal and non-fatal injury shootings are down this year compared to the same period last year, we recognize more work is needed to reverse the longer-term trendline.” 

The Oregonian/OregonLive reported Monday that Brown-Ceballos was the only one of the three men who was released from custody this week.

Diaz-Ceballos was convicted of first-degree robbery, third-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon in February 2023, according to Marion County Circuit Court records.

Arevalo was previously charged for meth possession and driving under the influence of intoxicants, and Brown-Ceballos has been previously charged with assault, burglary and unlawful use of a weapon, court records show.

Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected].

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