A U.S. Marine stole an anti-tank missile system from Camp Pendleton – the kind that destroys armored vehicles – and sold it in Arizona.
Then federal investigators pulled the inventory records and found he had personally signed it out.
Now Cpl. Andrew Paul Amarillas faces 25 years in federal prison, and prosecutors say not all the weapons have been recovered.
How Andrew Amarillas Stole Javelin Missiles from Camp Pendleton for Nearly Four Years
Amarillas enlisted in 2021 and landed one of the most trusted jobs on base – ammunition technician specialist at the School of Infantry-West at Camp Pendleton.
That title gave him authorized access to restricted military weapons, explosives, and massive stockpiles of ammunition.
He allegedly used every bit of that access.
Court documents show the scheme ran from February 2022 through November 2025 – nearly four years of systematic theft from one of the largest Marine Corps installations on the West Coast.
The stolen goods included at least one Javelin missile system and military-grade ammunition including M855A1 enhanced performance rounds.
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The Javelin is not a firearm.
It is a portable, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon manufactured exclusively for the U.S. military by Lockheed Martin and RTX Corp.
It cannot be legally possessed or sold to civilians unless demilitarized.
The one recovered in this case had not been demilitarized.
Amarillas allegedly stole the Javelin in August 2024, brought it to Arizona, and sold it to co-conspirators who then sold it to others.
The Text Messages That Linked Amarillas to the Stolen Javelin
The paper trail Amarillas left is breathtaking.
In August 2024, he texted a co-conspirator: "Just got some javs and some other ones. I have 2 launders that I think you'd like, if you want to take a look tomorrow."
Investigators later pulled a photo from that same exchange – a Javelin missile system whose serial number matched one Amarillas had personally signed out from the School of Infantry-West.
His own name. His own signature. His own phone.
Federal agents also found him saved in a co-conspirator's contacts as "Ammo Andrew."
When investigators closed in, Amarillas allegedly destroyed his phone to cover his tracks – telling his parents he had accidentally driven over it with a car.
He was arrested in Virginia on March 5, 2026, while completing a training course that would have deployed him to protect the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar.
He pleaded not guilty Thursday in a Phoenix federal courthouse.
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The judge ordered him held without bail – citing flight risk and his potential to tamper with witnesses and evidence still at Camp Pendleton.
Biden's Pentagon Let This Run at Camp Pendleton for Three Years
Before we get to the full scope of what's missing – understand the timeline.
Amarillas began stealing from Camp Pendleton in February 2022.
Joe Biden was president.
Lloyd Austin was running the Pentagon – the same Lloyd Austin who was hospitalized in secret for days while nobody in the chain of command noticed, and who spent his tenure focused on diversity training and rooting out "extremism" in the ranks.
The scheme ran through November 2025, with three of those years falling entirely on Biden's watch, under Biden's military leadership, at a base that apparently couldn't reconcile its own inventory.
Trump's team inherited the mess – and federal prosecutors moved fast once they did.
Amarillas was arrested March 5, 2026.
The Part That Should Worry Everyone
Federal prosecutors warned in detention documents that roughly 2 million rounds of M855 ammunition – standard NATO rifle rounds – may still be unaccounted for.
That is not a typo.
Two million rounds, potentially still out in Arizona – sold through a network of co-conspirators to companies and individuals whose identities prosecutors are still untangling.
This is not the first time a Southern California Marine base failed to secure its weapons.
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In 2021, explosives went missing from the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms.
The pattern reaches further back than that.
An Associated Press investigation found at least 1,900 U.S. military firearms vanished during the 2010s alone – some later used in violent crimes on American streets.
The pattern is always the same: an insider with access, weak inventory controls, and a military that moves slowly to acknowledge the problem.
The Army's No. 2 law enforcement official once summed it up directly: "It's about the money, right?"
What makes this case different is the weapon.
Stolen pistols are a problem.
A stolen Javelin missile system – fully operational, delivered to civilians, circulating in Arizona – is a national security event.
These weapons are built to kill armored vehicles and low-flying helicopters.
They are not supposed to exist outside military custody.
The co-conspirators remain unindicted.
The companies that bought the stolen goods are still under investigation.
And somewhere in Arizona, millions of rounds of military-grade ammunition are still unaccounted for.
Sources:
- Amy Furr, "U.S. Marine Indicted for Stealing Javelin Missiles from California Base, Selling Them in Arizona," Breitbart, March 30, 2026.
- "Marine corporal accused of stealing and selling weapons from California's Camp Pendleton," Associated Press, March 30, 2026.
- "Marine Cpl. Andrew Paul Amarillas indicted for stolen Javelin missile," Task & Purpose, March 30, 2026.
- "Marine corporal allegedly took missile, ammo from Camp Pendleton to Arizona," NBC Los Angeles, March 30, 2026.
- "Marine Corporal Accused of Stealing and Selling Weapons From California's Camp Pendleton," Military.com, March 30, 2026.