The weapons, ranging from three machine guns to a silencer, belonged to a
 Colombian from Cali, U.S. authorities say.
 

 BY DANIEL A. GRECH

 When agents from a federal money laundering task force blowtorched open a red
 air compressor in a Hialeah body shop, they expected to find money stashed
 inside.

 Instead, they found three machine guns, two semi-automatic pistols, a silencer, a
 flash suppressor and six 30-round magazines during the Saturday morning raid.

 The weapons belonged to a Colombian national from Cali who admitted sneaking
 into Miami five months ago with a fake Panamanian voter's registration card. He
 used it to obtain a Florida driver's license and identification card.

 The suspect, Felix H. Andrade-Reyes, 28, told investigators that the weaponry
 was headed for Colombia, where leftist guerrillas have escalated their civil war
 against the government.

 Many of the guns used in Colombia's brutal civil war are smuggled out of the
 United States through cities like Miami, law enforcement officials said.

 The Husky air compressor's 26-gallon vacuum tube had been welded shut
 minutes before police arrived at Mundo Used Auto Parts, 8601-A NW 96th St. The
 compressor still needed a final coat of red paint.

 The shop's business card reads: ``We export.''

 Inside the compressor: a 9mm Mac-11, 9mm Uzi with scope mount, a
 Chinese-made 7.62mm AK-47, a 9mm Smith & Wesson ``Ladies Smith''
 semi-automatic handgun with filed-off serial numbers and a 9mm Glock 19 pistol.

 Police said the guns were not stolen. They are performing ballistics tests to see if
 the weapons were used in any crimes nationwide.

 Andrade-Reyes, 28, of 7705 Camino Real Dr. in Kendall, was charged with
 removal of a firearm serial number and obtaining a fraudulent driver's license --
 both are third-degree state felonies with a maximum penalty of five years apiece.

 Possession of a silencer is not illegal under Florida law.

 The owner of Mundo Used Auto Parts, reportedly a friend of Andrade-Reyes, has
 not been charged.

 Federal agencies are considering prosecuting Andrade-Reyes under federal law,
 which outlaws silencers and carries stiffer penalties for most gun-related charges.

 Andrade-Reyes was carrying $3,000 in cash, which he told police was to pay the
 welder and ship the compressor.

 Police said they believe the body shop, like many other area stores, may have
 been a regular pit stop for illegal shipments.

 ``Businesses from flower shops to body shops are fronts to transport money and
 guns out of the country,'' said North Miami Beach officer Tony Marciante, a
 member of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force that conducted the
 arrest.

 ``Use your imagination and that's where they put it,'' said North Miami Beach
 officer Nelson Reyes, who participated in the arrest.