Federal agents crack down on straw purchases

Two Brownsville men were arrested by federal agents after making firearms purchases for third parties in separate cases, according to court documents.

Gilberto Gonzalez, 24, and Carlo Garza, 25, were both charged with making false statements on required federal forms while purchasing firearms.

Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and Explosives arrested Gonzalez on Monday and Garza Tuesday, court records show.

Garza became the subject of an investigation when a search of the agency's database revealed that a .223-caliber assault rifle, seized in Guanajuato, Mexico in July 2008, had been purchased by Garza on Sept. 14, 2006 in Brownsville, the ATF said.

On June 30 federal agents met with Garza in the parking lot of a Brownsville sporting goods store, where he confessed to purchasing the weapon for a "person who resided in Mexico" for $100, court documents show.

Gonzalez was arrested the day before in the parking lot of the same sporting goods store after agents questioned him about several firearm purchases, ATF said.

According to the ATF, in July 2007, Gonzalez purchased a .223-caliber assault rifle and a 9mm Beretta handgun after lying on federal forms stating that the guns were for him, court records show.

Gonzalez confessed to purchasing the two firearms and four additional weapons previously for a "Mexican citizen," having received $100 per weapon, ATF said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Felix Recio ordered Gonzalez held without bond pending a detention hearing scheduled for today.

Recio set Garza's bond at $75,000.