AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Tribune is reporting that “the Justice Department arrested five men across Texas after accusing the group of illegally purchasing firearms and trafficking the weapons to drug cartels in Mexico” and “charged each of the men with conspiracy to straw purchase firearms and to smuggle the weapons across the U.S.-Mexico border — two criminal offenses recently established by the 2022 federal bipartisan gun safety bill” that Ted Cruz voted against.

Ted Cruz would rather play politics than make any attempt to secure our border.

Texas Tribune: Feds arrest five men accused of smuggling illegally purchased guns to cartels in Mexico

By William Melhado

• The Justice Department arrested five men across Texas after accusing the group of illegally purchasing firearms and trafficking the weapons to drug cartels in Mexico, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas announced Monday.

• In a superseding indictment filed earlier this month, the Justice Department charged each of the men with conspiracy to straw purchase firearms and to smuggle the weapons across the U.S.-Mexico border — two criminal offenses recently established by the 2022 federal bipartisan gun safety bill.

• Court documents alleged that the co-conspirators would purchase expensive, “military-grade” guns from both licensed and unlicensed dealers before transporting the firearms out of the country. The Justice Department said that Perez’s organization allegedly purchased FNH SCAR rifles, Barrett .50 caliber rifles, FNH M294S rifles, and M1919 rifles.

• Two years ago, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn helped lead the passage of the landmark bipartisan gun legislation. The bill passed the Senate shortly after 19 children and two teachers were murdered in Texas’ deadliest school shooting in Uvalde.

• Since the law went into effect, the Justice Department has prosecuted over 300 defendants, the federal agency told The Texas Tribune.

• “Thanks to the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, we now have a firearms trafficking statute we can use to more easily investigate the flow of firearms into illegal commerce,” Peter Carr, Justice Department spokesperson, said in a Monday statement.

• The new criminal offenses each carry maximum sentences of 15 years in prison. The Justice Department said these stronger penalties are intended to deter straw purchases and trafficking of weapons.

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