Mexican national sentenced to more than two years in prison for arms smuggling

McALLEN -- An undocumented immigrant who attempted to smuggle nearly 3,000 rounds of ammunition and a pistol to Mexico last year was sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison Monday.

Roberto Carlos Garcia Salazar, 23, of Mexico, pleaded guilty to one count exporting weapons without a license in September 2008, two months after customs inspectors found the contraband hidden in his spare tire as he tried to cross the Progreso-Nuevo Progreso International Bridge.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents trailed Garcia from a Harlingen sporting goods store that reported several suspicious gun purchases.

Garcia later confessed to illegally exporting 1,400 rounds of .223 caliber ammunition, 1,400 rounds of 7.62 caliber ammunition and a Beretta M9 9mm pistol, saying he had been offered $200 to $300 by a man in Mexico for each smuggling trip. He told investigators he had made four previous successful trips across the bridge.