A month ago, Fremont County detectives made what seemed like a routine stop — a van, registered in Mexico, had failed to dim its high beams, among other traffic infractions.
But what they found in the van turned a run-of-the-mill traffic ticket into a federal case: 180,000 rounds of ammunition ready for use in assault rifles.
The two men in the van were from Mexico, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court earlier this month. They had valid B-2 tourist visas and were charged under a rarely used statute: “Unlawful Possession of Ammunition by Alien Admitted Under a Nonimmigrant Visa.”
After making the stop, the Fremont County deputies contacted an officer with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That agency then took Caesar Ramon Martinez Solis, 41, and Humberto Ivan Amador Gavira, 24, into custody in an immigration detention facility. They were also cited for the traffic violations, including transporting hazardous materials without a permit, according to the federal complaint, but CPR News could not find state-level charges against either man related to the traffic stop.
In interviews with investigators, the men said that they entered the U.S. last month and purchased the ammunition at an unidentified gun store in Salt Lake City. They told investigators that the bullets were destined for Pueblo, Colorado.
Amador Gavira (listed as Amador-Gavira in state records) was pulled over in Adams County in December and cited by Brighton Police for driving without a license and insurance. The charges were dismissed by the Adams County District Attorney.
Last Tuesday, both men appeared in federal court in Denver, where their attorneys argued against detention, in part because they have no criminal history. The judge disagreed, saying that their lack of connections to Colorado made them a flight risk and ordered them detained while the criminal case plays out. No other hearings are scheduled.
Both men were in the U.S. on B-2 visas, which are designated for tourism, to visit family or for medical treatments. The visas were issued to the men in 2023 and 2022, and were valid to be used for up to 10 years to pass in and out of the U.S. The criminal complaint doesn’t explain how they obtained the visas.
The federal charge, “Unlawful Possession of Ammunition by Alien Admitted Under a Nonimmigrant Visa,” is rarely used. CPR News could find only nine other cases in the U.S., with the last being in 2021. There have been a number of gun-related smuggling charges connected to Mexico in recent weeks, though.
Last month in Arizona, border agents found 8,000 rounds of ammunition hidden in the trunk of a Mexican national driving back across the border to Mexico. She admitted, according to the criminal complaint, that she was paid to buy the ammo in the U.S. and then drop it at a location in Mexico.
In Wyoming last month, state troopers pulled over a vehicle for speeding and, according to the federal complaint, saw boxes of “high caliber ammunition” in the back seat and passenger seat of the car. Ricardo Paez-Quinones told the troopers that he bought the ammunition in Utah for target practice with his girlfriend, though he later admitted that he didn’t own a firearm. Troopers also found a small amount of cocaine in the vehicle.
A day after the arrest, ICE agents found that Paez-Quinones had no legal status to be in the U.S., having been removed from the country in 2012 and 2014.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Colorado said in a press release that the case is now part of Operation Take Back America, which aims “to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.”
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