Unlike in San Francisco where taco trucks need to create some sort of Asian fusion to stand out from the crowd, taco cart owners down in San jose are deadly serious about their business. So serious, in fact, that one Jose Gilberto Ortiz of San Jose was apparently running a lucrative firearms sales business alongside his reasonably priced $1.50 tamales and $1.75 tacos. According to KTVU, Ortiz was indicted yesterday, along with an accomplice from LA, for selling 17 weapons to undercover cops.
As a CW Bay Area report goes on to explain, Ortiz was keeping enough firepower to arm a small army in a van parked next to the cart he sets up regularly at Alum Rock and Foss Ave. Ortiz' weapons cache included a machine gun, sawed off shotguns and several handguns, some of which had the serial numbers filed off. The taco peddler, who has prior drug and weapons convictions, claims he didn't know he needed a license to sell the guns and was just looking for a way to make ends meet.
And here's the video report from CW Bay Area (44/Cable 12!):
