Southern District of Texas
www.justice.gov/usao/txs
For Immediate Release
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Jose Angel Moreno, United States Attorney
Contact: Angela Dodge, Public Affairs Officer
(713) 567-9388
angela.dodge@usdoj.gov

American Husband and Columbian Wife Charged with Unlawfully Exporting Firearms to Columbia

(HOUSTON) – An American husband and his Colombian wife have been arrested and charged with smuggling firearms to Colombia, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today, along with Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent in Charge Dewey Webb and Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) Special Agent in Charge Robert Rutt.

ATF and HSI agents executed arrests warrants on Tuesday, March 8, 2011, which issued following the filing of sealed criminal complaints charging Patrick Regan, 40, and his Colombian-born wife, Ximena del Pilar Echeverry Arias, 25, with conspiracy, smuggling goods from the United States and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371, 554, and 922(k), respectively. The criminal complaints were unsealed today. Both defendants have made their initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Johnson and have been ordered to remain in federal custody pending preliminary examination and detention hearings set for Friday, March 11, 2011, at 2:00 p.m.

“Firearms trafficking empowers terrorists, insurgents and violent gangs to murder, intimidate and control lawabiding people in many countries, including our closest democratic neighbors and friends in North, Central and South America,â€