Father and Son Arrested in Attempt to Smuggle Hundreds of Guns to Mexico, Feds Say

Border authorities discovered more than 300 firearms and firearm accessories in a pair of trailers attempting to cross into Mexico on Oct. 23.

Several firearms placed on a table following a seizure at the Juarez-Lincoln Port of Entry in Laredo, Texas, on Oct. 23. U.S. Department of Justice

Federal authorities arrested and charged a father and son pair with attempting to smuggle more than 300 firearms, firearm accessories, and ammunition across the border into Mexico last week.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in an Oct. 28 statement that Emilio Ramirez Cortes and his son, Edgar Emilio Ramirez Diaz, had been arrested on arms trafficking charges. The DOJ identified Cortes as a Mexican citizen who had been residing in the United States legally.

According to a federal criminal complaint, the pair was stopped while attempting to drive two vehicles into Mexico through the Juarez-Lincoln Port of Entry in Laredo, Texas, on Oct. 23.

Ramirez Diaz was driving a Chevrolet Tahoe with Alabama license plates, while his father, Ramirez Cortes, was driving a Chevrolet Silverado with Mexican license plates. Both vehicles were towing white box utility trailers, according to the filing.

Authorities inspecting the pair of vehicles at the border crossing discovered each trailer contained false walls concealing the more than 300 rifles and pistols between them. Ammunition and magazines of various calibers were also discovered, according to the complaint.

“This seizure of an immense quantity of firearms illustrates the Southern District of Texas’s full-spectrum approach to fighting the cartels. We will attack every facet of their operations until they are wiped off the face of the earth,” said U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei, who is leading the prosecution.

The complaint says the two men were smuggling the firearms and accessories into Mexico on Oct. 23 in exchange for payment, and had done so on 12 other occasions.

Following their arrest on Oct. 23, both men allegedly acknowledged they understood it was illegal to transport firearms across the border and that they had never applied for or possessed any licenses or permits to transport such items out of the United States. Both men also allegedly told investigators they picked up the utility trailers from an unknown individual in Dallas prior to their latest border crossing attempt.

An attorney for Cortes declined a request for comment from The Epoch Times on Tuesday. Attorneys for Diaz did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

“Disrupting the illegal flow of weapons into Mexico is a key part of our whole-of-government approach to dismantling the cartels,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said.

Cortes and Diaz made their initial appearance in a Laredo federal court on Oct. 27. They will remain in custody until at least Oct. 31, when they are set to receive a detention hearing.

Earlier this year, several federal law enforcement officials vowed to pursue terrorism charges against those helping Latin American cartels procure weapons, citing efforts by President Donald Trump and his administration to treat those cartels as terrorist groups.