http://www.lmtonline.com/articles/2009/ ... 990699.txt

A Laredo man accused of smuggling ammunition from the U.S. into Mexico now faces formal charges, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

A federal grand jury this week indicted Raul Alvarez, 29, on charges of ammunition smuggling and making a false statement to a Customs and Border Protection officer, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston.

Alvarez is a U.S. citizen who lives in Laredo but helps his family run businesses in Nuevo Laredo, according to testimony in a Wednesday detention hearing.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Alvarez on Dec. 11 after Customs and Border Protection officers on International Bridge II found hidden ammunition in the Ford Expedition Alvarez was driving to Mexico.

On Dec. 19, U.S. Magistrate Judge Diana Saldaña set a $100,000 bond. Prosecutors did not object.

Alvarez posted bond Dec. 30, and on Dec. 31, prosecutors filed a motion to detain him without bond.

Alvarez is a flight risk and a danger to the community, Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana Song said in Wednesday's hearing, adding that when the initial Pretrial Services report came out in December

recommending a bond, the government did not know that most of Alvarez's family lives in Nuevo Laredo, nor did they know that he grew up there.

The fact that he has access to $100,000 in cash is further evidence that Alvarez is a flight risk, Song said.

She cited as well a Nov. 30 San Antonio Express-News article that tied Alvarez to the 2006 purchase of guns in Laredo that were later used in a shooting that killed four police officers in the Mexican city of Aguascalientes.

Alvarez's attorney, Andres A. Ramos, said a newspaper article is not a formal allegation.

The government knew about Alvarez's ties to Mexico before bond was set, and arguing that his ability to post bond means Alvarez is a flight risk is counterintuitive, Ramos said.

"They're here trying to use bond as a means of oppression, as a means of punishment," he said.

The amount of ammunition Alvarez was caught with means he faces less than two years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, Ramos said.

"We feel the bond that was originally set is sufficient to ensure his appearance in court," Ramos said after the hearing.
"It is our contention he is not a danger to the community or a flight risk."

Customs officers found 280 rounds of ammunition, much of it compatible with assault rifles, hidden in modified speaker box in the right rear panel of Alvarez's vehicle, Song said.

Some of the ammunition had been loaded into pistol and rifle magazines, she said.

The panel was accessible via a trap door that could be opened by pushing a combination of buttons on the vehicle's dashboard, Song said.