Read more: Local, Crime, Jeniffer Lopez, Gun Ring, Straw Purchasing, Atf, Roma, Rio Grande City, Starr County, Rio Grande Valley, Texas
Authorities are still searching for a Rio Grande City woman after busting a Starr County-based gun ring.
A federal grand jury indicted Jeniffer Lopez and nine others on federal firearms charges last week.
U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives (ATF) agents arrested two ringleaders and seven suspects but 28-year-old Lopez remains at large.
The group is accused of “straw purchasing” about 60 high-powered handguns and assault rifles between December 2008 and April 2009.
Straw purchasing is buying a gun for a criminal or someone else. The federal crime is punishable up to five years in prison.
Court records obtained by Action 4 News show the group bought the weapons at:
- Gladiator Guns & Ammos in Roma
- Riverview True Value Hardware in Roma
- Danny’s Pawn & Sporting Goods in McAllen
Prosecutors identified the other nine suspects as:
- Jose Alberto Rios, 40, Roma
- Josefina Guzman, 34, Roma
- Juan Antonio Avalos, 23, Rio Grande City
- Jose Angel Celedon, 25, Rio Grande City
- Siboney Hinojosa Navarro, 32, Rio Grande City
- Daisy Yesenia Santo, 22, Roma
- Jose Alberto Trevino, 40, Roma
- Roxana Perez, 29, Roma
- Eluid Saenz, 23, Roma
Rios and Guzman reportedly recruited Lopez and the others.
Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Lopez is asked to contact the ATF at (956) 661-7930.
