A grand jury in Phoenix recently indicted a woman for attempting to smuggle numerous weapons and weapon parts across the southern border in April, according to the United States Department of Justice, District of Arizona.
According to court documents, on April 19, Migdelia Irma Mendoza, 42, of Phoenix, was driving a Lexus to Mexico and saw many signs alerting drivers that firearms and ammunition are illegal in the Republic of Mexico, according to the DOJ.
When Mendoza attempted to enter the border in Nogales, police performed an “outbound inspection.”
Officials discovered an RPG launcher tube, guns, and firearm parts during the examination of her vehicle. According to the DOJ, the guns and weapon parts were discovered wrapped in green plastic in a compartment beneath the rear seat.
The DOJ discovered the following items in Mendoza’s vehicle:
- Four AR-style rifles
- 16 AK-style rifles
- One AK-style pistol
- One RPG-7 launcher tube
- 20 firearm pistol grips
- 16 rifle buttstocks
- 24 AK-style firearm magazines
Last week, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against Mendoza for attempting to transport items from the United States.
According to the DOJ, this charge was the outcome of an investigation by the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF). “The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eradicating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad,” the DOJ stated.
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