EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – An open alcohol container violation on Interstate 10 has helped authorities in Arizona secure a federal indictment against three alleged weapons traffickers.
A grand jury on Wednesday accused Francisco Bell, Ismael Higuera Avalos and Eziquio Chavez of trafficking in firearms for allegedly purchasing high-caliber rifles under false premises at a Tucson gun show and from a pawn shop earlier this month.
It is one of three firearms and ammunition trafficking and illegal export cases brought to federal courts in Arizona this week alone.
Tucson police officers on Aug. 4 stopped a Jeep Gladiator for speeding on Interstate 10 and noticed an open alcohol container in the vehicle’s cupholder. The officers searched the vehicle and found 16 AK-47s, an AR-16 style rifle, three guns and $12,000, court records show.
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The traffic stop occurred shortly after Homeland Security Investigations agents and Arizona Department of Public Safety state troopers observed two men later identified as Bell and Higuera enter the Tucson Gun Expo and come out bearing several rifle boxes to the Jeep, according to a federal complaint affidavit filed in U.S District Court for the District of Arizona.