Snapchat videos lead to federal gun charges against Chicago man: : ‘Gotta reload these b****es’

A Chicago man faces a federal weapons charge after he essentially handed investigators their entire case by posting a series of Snapchat videos of himself handling firearms, roaming rival gang territory while armed, and even firing a handgun into the air while identifying himself as a gang member, according to court records.

The case against Alexander Martinez-Quiroz reads less like a high-stakes federal investigation and more like an unwitting confession that investigators stumbled across online.

An FBI agent who wrote the complaint supporting the charges said investigators obtained a search warrant for Martinez-Quiroz’s Snapchat account in March and found a trove of videos he had saved or sent to others.

Snapchat images used as evidence against Alexander Martinez-Quiroz. (U.S. District Court files)

In a clip dated December 18, 2025, Martinez-Quiroz, purportedly a Two Six gang member, is allegedly shown driving a Ford F-150 along a stretch of 46th Street known to be Latin Saint gang territory, holding a firearm.

“I don’t give a f***, I’ll die today, I don’t give a f***. Somebody’s dying today, though. I promise you that. Rest in peace my n****, Lechuga. Saint killer. If I don’t drop a Saint, I’ll drop a donut for real, I promise you that,” he allegedly said in the Snap.

The agent’s filing said a “donut” is a street term used to refer to members of the Satan Disciples, another rival gang. The agent alleges Martinez-Quiroz was seeking to shoot a Latin Saints member or a Satan Disciple in retaliation for the killing of someone he called “Lechuga.”

Chicago police told federal investigators that a man named Lewis Lechuga was shot and killed on January 30, 2023, in the parking lot of a Taco Bell at 4614 South Damen Street, and that Lechuga was a suspected Two Six gang member, according to the complaint.

That same Taco Bell parking lot appears in another Snap the feds allegedly found in Martinez-Quiroz’s account. That video allegedly showed him getting out of a vehicle in the parking lot and holding a firearm to his chest. He again invoked Lechuga’s name before saying, “47th street. I’m gonna pack you n***** up,” according to the complaint.

About ten minutes after that, Martinez-Quiroz allegedly made a third video walking down a street in Latin Saints territory, holding a firearm in one hand and recording with the other, asking aloud, “Where the Saints today, though?”

Roughly half an hour later, things escalated further in a fourth video as Martinez-Quiroz allegedly recorded himself inside a vehicle.

“Hold on, this s*** is gonna be funny,” he said, getting out of the vehicle and standing in front of a brick building. “What am I? Yeah, I’m a gangster Two-Six. What’s up?”

He then raised his left hand and fired a handgun three times into the air, the complaint states.

“Exactly. Y’all n****s ain’t on s***.”

Investigators found an earlier clip from December 14 that allegedly showed a table covered in firearms, including a rifle, a Glock-style handgun with a drum magazine, a handgun with an extended magazine, and various loose ammunition, with someone handling the weapons and saying, “Gotta reload these b****es, f***.”

The rifle’s serial number is partially visible in the video, and ATF records identified it as a weapon stolen from a shipment traveling from a Michigan manufacturer to a company in Iowa, the complaint said.

Investigators linked the earlier footage to Martinez-Quiroz’s residence through geolocation data embedded in the video.

On Thursday, federal agents executed search warrants at Martinez-Quiroz’s home, on his vehicle, and on his person.

When they searched his home, they say they found the stolen GL-15 rifle, loaded, along with a loaded Glock Model 19 with a drum-style magazine, multiple rounds of ammunition, a Springfield XD firearm case containing a loaded magazine, and an extended magazine, all items similar to those seen in the December 14 video.

Martinez-Quiroz is charged with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

About Tim Hecke 1896 Articles
Tim Hecke is CWBChicago's managing partner. He started his career at KMOX, the legendary news radio station in St. Louis. From there, he moved on to work at stations in Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City. Tim went on to build syndicated radio news and content services that served every one of America's 100 largest radio markets. He became CWBChicago's managing partner in 2019. His email address is [email protected]