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Woman accused of trying to smuggle rifles into Mexico
An evidence photo shows multiple firearms and gun parts found hidden inside the doors of a car at an El Paso border checkpoint.
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A Mexican national is behind bars after allegedly trying to sneak a dozen high-powered firearms and gun accessories south across the border at El Paso earlier this month.
Roger Maier, a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the 33-year-old woman had been turned over to Homeland Security Investigations “to face charges associated with the failed smuggling attempt.”
Court records for the July 3 arrest could not be found online, and Maier did not identify the woman.
“The intermittent pulse and surge southbound operations that CBP officers perform at area ports will often identify individuals attempting to smuggle weapons, ammunition, unreported currency and other violations,” CBP El Paso Director of Field Operations Hector Mancha said in a news release. “These important enforcement actions play a significant role in helping keep our border communities safer.”
Federal officials say that while things like illicit drugs and agricultural products move north from Mexico, it is most often that money and guns — much more accessible in America — move south across the border.
It is unclear where the weapons allegedly smuggled by the woman were headed.
Maier said it was around 8 p.m. at the Bridge of Americas international crossing in El Paso when CBP officers selected a Volkswagen Virtus for “an intensive exam.”
“An X-ray exam of the car revealed anomalies in the doors,” he said. “CBP officers removed multiple plastic-wrapped guns and firearm components that were hidden in the doors.”
In all, Maier said, CBP found 12 guns, 28 magazines and various gun parts — rifle optics and buttstocks — hidden in the doors of the car. In a photo of the seizure, many of the guns were rifles, like the FN P90 and AR pistols.
