2 Chicago men arrested in undercover federal firearms probe

Two men were arrested Wednesday in connection with an undercover federal firearms investigation in the Chicago area, according to federal prosecutors in Chicago.

Matthew Barraza, 21, was arrested and charged with unlicensed dealing of a firearm, possession of a machine gun and distribution of a controlled substance. Edwin Moreno, 27, was arrested on suspicion of possessing machine gun.

Barraza, a resident of Chicago, illegally sold a loaded handgun to an undercover law enforcement officer for $2,000 and 127 grams of cocaine for $3,600 at a Bolingbrook gas station on Feb. 5, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

The handgun was equipped with a machine gun conversion device and an extended magazine containing 19 rounds of ammunition, the complaint said.

Moreno, also a resident of Chicago, was in possession of a firearm equipped with a machine gun conversion device Jan. 15 when undercover law enforcement officers disguised as tow operators conducted a vehicle repossession in Joliet, the complaint said.

Barraza and Moreno will appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura K. McNally in federal court Wednesday.