EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Two men who initially told investigators they visited El Paso to sell goats and purchase clothing are being held in connection with a failed attempt to smuggle 2,820 bullets into Mexico, federal court documents allege.
A federal grand jury in the Western District of Texas on Wednesday charged Jaime Noe Ceballos Maturin and Daniel Soberanes Nunez with two counts of conspiracy and smuggling goods from the United States. The charges stem from the June 11 seizure of the ammo on the southbound lanes of the Bridge of the Americas in El Paso.
Members of the U.S. Border Patrol Anti-Smuggling Unit received intelligence that Ceballos and Soberanes were purchasing dozens of boxes of various caliber ammunition in El Paso they placed in a Dodge Journey with Durango, Mexico, license plates.
The Border Patrol relayed the information to the Global Trade Group of Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Mobile Enforcement Team members. Court records show CBP officers stopped the Dodge Journey as it attempted to leave the United States just before noon that day.
Border officers questioned the three adults in the vehicle – Ceballos, Soberanes, and a woman named Karina Navar Sanchez, who had her 5-month-old child with her. They sent the car to a secondary inspection area and informed the occupants they had reason to suspect they were hiding ammunition.
Records show Soberanes requested a cigarette and assurances the woman and her baby would be released and allowed to return to Mexico in exchange for his cooperation. The man allegedly pointed CBP to the Dodge’s wheel well, where officers found 40 boxes of 9mm, .38-caliber, and 30-30 caliber ammunition.
Ceballos invoked his right not to say anything without a lawyer present but allegedly commented in Spanish about the presence of an HSI agent, roughly translated as “It seemed so easy,” court records show.
Agents examined Ceballos’ cell phone and allegedly found information on the “straw purchasing of firearms across the United States and trafficking of firearms into Mexico,” according to a complaint affidavit filed by HSI.
Navar stated she was unaware of Soberanes and Ceballos’ activities. Court records don’t show she was charged with a crime.
The suspects’ following court hearings are pending.
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