MAN ACCUSED OF BUYING GUN USED IN ATTACK ON ICE AGENTS

U.S. authorities in Texas arrested three members of an alleged weapons
trafficking ring and accused one of them of buying a pistol used in a
February attack that killed a U.S. government agent in Mexico.

The three men are brothers [name1 redacted] and [name2 redacted], 27
and 22 years old, and [name3 redacted], 25. All were charged in
criminal complaints filed in U.S. District Court in Dallas.

The men were the subject of an undercover investigation by agents from
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Drug
Enforcement Administration in November. Investigators were attempting
to track weapons bought in the U.S. that were allegedly then smuggled
into Mexico, according to an ATF affidavit filed in court. The
affidavit alleges that the purchases were made on behalf of the drug
gang known as Los Zetas, one of several groups fighting a bloody war
for control of territory in Mexico.

Separate from the undercover probe, U.S. authorities said, ballistics
tests linked the weapons ring to one of three guns recovered from the
Feb. 15 attack, in which Jaime Zapata, a special agent with
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was killed. Mr. Zapata was
traveling in Mexico with Victor Avila, another ICE agent attached to
the U.S. Embassy, who was injured in the assault.

A Romarm-Cugir Draco 7.62 pistol recovered in the attack was traced to
[name2 redacted], who purchased it from a dealer in Joshua, Texas, the
ATF said. The purchase occurred Oct. 10, nearly a month before the
November undercover investigation, the affidavit says. Federal
investigators running the undercover case weren't aware of the earlier
purchase.

In the undercover probe, the ATF affidavit alleges, the [name
redacted] brothers delivered weapons to an ATF informant under a sting
set up by DEA agents who were investigating U.S. weapons purchases by
Los Zetas. The ATF later orchestrated the seizure of the 40 weapons
included in shipments delivered by the men, ranging from pistols to
rifles and shotguns, all with serial numbers that were obliterated,
the ATF affidavit says.

Mr. [name3 redacted]'s role in the alleged [name redacted] ring was to
make "straw purchases" of weapons, according to U.S. authorities. In
an interview with ATF investigators, Mr. [name3 redacted], a next-door
neighbor of the [name redacted]s, said that to make "a little extra
money" he purchased at least 20 firearms, which he provided to unknown
men in parking lots outside gun shows, U.S. authorities said. The
affidavit says Mr. [name3 redacted] "refused to admit the identity of
the person for whom he was purchasing these firearms." Mr. [name3
redacted] faces additional charges of making false statements.