Two Mexican nationals in the United States on nonimmigrant visas were nabbed during a traffic stop in Colorado last month while smuggling 180,000 rounds of ammunition, police said Wednesday.
Caesar Ramon Martinez Solis, 41, and Humberto Ivan Amador Gavira, 24, both from Mexico, were pulled over near Canon City on March 26, according to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.
According to an arrest document acquired by the Canon City Daily Record, two Fremont County detectives observed a white Chevrolet van passing them without dimming its headlights, which is a violation of state law. According to the cops, the vehicle failed to signal before entering a petrol station and had a malfunctioning license plate lamp.
During the traffic stop, the investigators discovered around 150 boxes of.308 ammo and 30 boxes of 7.62 ammunition, police claimed. Each box was labeled as holding 1,000 rounds.
According to the affidavit, Martinez Solis consented to talk with special agents from the US Department of Homeland Security and waived his right to an attorney.
Martinez Solis informed authorities that he and Amador Garcia, whom he claimed to be his brother-in-law, had gone from Mexico to Denver the day before to buy a vehicle before going to Salt Lake City to look at another vehicle.
The men stopped in Salt Lake City at a weapons and ammo store, where Amador Garcia purchased the ammunition, according to the affidavit.
“[Martinez Solis] further explained that he did not know the intent with the ammunition but that he believed it was destined for Pueblo,” according to the paperwork. Pueblo is a city in Colorado, approximately 113 miles south of Denver.
Martinez Solis also stated that the intended destination was on Amador Garcia’s phone, according to the affidavit. The authorities did not indicate the destination.
Martinez Solis and Amador Garcia were both charged with unlawful possession of ammunition by an alien admitted on a nonimmigrant visa.
The Denver Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations and the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office are working on the case, with assistance from the Denver Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
Officials said the investigation is part of Operation Take Back America, a federal operation designed “to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations.”