LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (AP) — Authorities say a West Texas Border Patrol agent and his girlfriend are in custody after they were charged with conspiracy to buy firearms and more than 20,000 rounds of ammunition to be smuggled into Mexico.
Ricardo Montalvo and Carla Gonzalez-Ortiz, both of El Paso, Texas, were arrested Monday after a federal grand jury returned a 20-count indictment.
They're accused of acting as straw purchasers of at least nine firearms between November 2010 and January 2011, along with more than 100 high-capacity magazines and thousands of high-caliber bullets of the type used by Mexican cartels. They're also accused of knowing the munitions would be exported illegally to Mexico.
Court documents list no attorneys for the pair.
Montalvo had been on administrative desk duty since the investigation started in January 2011.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.