Arturo Ceja is a native of Los Angeles. Agents of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms charged Ceja arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department for 32-tons of illegal fireworks that led to a botched detonation that injured 17 people, with illegally transporting explosives without a license.
Filed late Friday, the criminal complaint alleges the 26-year-old made several trips to Nevada in late June to buy various types of explosives, including aerial displays and large homemade fireworks, that he transported to his South LA residence in rental vans.
According to the complaint, most of the explosives were purchased at Area 51, a fireworks dealer in Pahrump, Nevada.
Agents who wrote the complaint noted that fireworks in California could be sold for as much as four times what buyers pay for them in Nevada.
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Ceja told agents that he bought the fireworks from an individual selling them out of the trunk of a Honda in the Area 51 parking lot.
“Ceja did not possess an ATF explosives license or permit of any kind that would authorize him to transport either aerial display fireworks or homemade fireworks made with explosive materials, including but not limited to flash powder,” the complaint affidavit says.
Charged
Federal agents arrested Arturo Ceja III on Saturday. According to court documents, he was arrested at home in South Los Angeles, where 32,000-pounds of illegal fireworks were found and where a police bomb containment vehicle was destroyed in an explosion has been charged with transporting explosives without a license.
Ceja admitted during an interview that he bought and transported the fireworks and allegedly told agents that he stored the fireworks under a tent in his backyard, according to the complaint.
Agents described the types of fireworks discovered during a search of Ceja’s home on June 30 as “over 500 boxes of commercial-grade fireworks, both 1.3 aerial display and 1.4 hazard class fireworks in large cardboard boxes.” Police officers said they saw what they described as “homemade fireworks,” explosive-making components, and clear plastic bags for money.
