Alabama father, son arrested in Texas attempting to smuggle guns into Mexico
TEXAS - A father and son from Alabama are in federal custody after being charged with attempting to smuggle more than 300 firearms, along with ammunition and magazines, into Mexico.
Emilio Ramirez Cortes, 48, a legal resident of the U.S. and citizen of Mexico, and his son, Edgar Emilio Ramirez Diaz, made their initial appearances in Laredo federal court. Both men face charges of smuggling and trafficking firearms, ammunition, magazines, and other accessories.
More than 300 firearms seized
The backstory:
The charges stem from an Oct. 23 traffic stop at the Juarez-Lincoln Port of Entry in Laredo. According to the criminal complaint, Ramirez Diaz was driving a Chevrolet Tahoe with Alabama license plates, closely followed by his father in a Chevrolet Silverado with Mexican plates. Both vehicles were allegedly hauling enclosed white box utility trailers.
Authorities at the port of entry discovered false walls inside both utility trailers, which concealed the massive cache of weapons. The seizure included well over 300 rifles and pistols, along with various caliber ammunition and magazines.
Court records allege the men were smuggling the weapons and related items into Mexico in exchange for payment and had done so on multiple occasions.
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What they're saying:
"Those that illegally traffic guns to Mexico empower cartels to terrorize the innocent," U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei said in a statement. "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."
Attorney General Pamela Bondi tied the bust directly to the ongoing effort to dismantle transnational criminal organizations.
"Disrupting the illegal flow of weapons into Mexico is a key part of our whole-of-government approach to dismantling the cartels," Bondi said. "This significant seizure represents our commitment to protecting Americans from brutal cartel violence."
The Source: Information in this article is from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas.