HIDALGO, Texas — U.S. customs officers arrested a pair of Mexican nationals allegedly trying to smuggle a flamethrower and ammunition into Mexico over the past weekend. They were arraigned Wednesday.
Officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped 35-year-old Israel Ferrer Zarate and his companion, 34-year-old Damaris Gausi, as they tried to cross the McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge. Inside their vehicle, authorities found almost 1,000 rounds of ammunition and a disassembled flamethrower.
During an interview with agents from Homeland Security Investigations, Ferrer Zarate told authorities they were visiting from Jalisco to attend a local gun show that day, a criminal complaint revealed.
While the pair is from Jalisco, home to the brutal Cartel Jalisco New Generation, court documents do not make mention of organized crime.
The husband and wife told agents that the ammunition, a disassembled Exothermic Pulsefire flamethrower, spare parts for a Glock pistol, and other accessories were purchased at the gun show. The woman told agents that she helped her husband hide all the items in different parts of the vehicle.
While ammunition and commercial flamethrowers are legal to purchase and own in the United States, the criminal complaint revealed that the couple had entered the country on tourist visas prohibiting them from possessing or buying ammunition.
On Wednesday, the couple went before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker who notified them of the charges and ordered they be held without bond.
Luisana Moreno is a contributing writer for Breitbart Texas
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