Thread: 2 Men Accused of Trying to Smuggle Ammo into Mexico

2 Men Accused of Trying to Smuggle Ammo into Mexico

Last Update: 6:05 pm

BROWNSVILLE - Two men are in federal custody, accused of trying to smuggle a shipment of ammunition into Mexico.

Homeland Security investigators say they set up surveillance on a sporting goods store in Brownsville on Monday and then followed the men on an ammo-buying spree across the Valley.

Documents filed in U.S. district court list the defendants as Guillermo Villarreal and Leonicio Sanchez. Homeland Security investigators say they watched the men buy a large amount of 7.62 x 39-millimeter ammunition. Then they followed the men as they bought more ammo at stores in Weslaco and Edinburg.

Investigators say the men went back to Brownsville and were in the process of hiding the bullets in Villarreal’s truck when agents moved in. They say the men admitted buying 10,000 rounds of ammunition and that they were taking it to Mexico.

Congressman Henry Cuellar of Laredo says current laws on the books are strong enough in restricting the sales of ammunition.

“Do we need to put more resources? Yes, and this is under the Homeland, the ICE, and this is why when we talk about border security, some folks think that if we put Border Patrol, and we put National Guard, and we put a fence, that's going to secure it. But like anything else, you've got to do investigations; you've got to do the background,” says Cuellar.

Cuellar says Congress needs to remember the needs of border law enforcement as it begins to make major cuts aimed at deficit reduction.

Federal agents say Villarreal and Sanchez admitted they had smuggled ammunition into Mexico at least three times before. They have a detention hearing scheduled for Friday in federal court in Brownsville.