Two Oregon men charged in plot to smuggle guns to Mexican drug cartels

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — U.S. prosecutors say two Oregon men have been charged in connection with smuggling military-style firearms to Mexican drug cartels.

An indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Eugene accuses 33-year-old Erik Flores Elortegui and 56-year-old Robert Allen Cummins of making false statements to obtain guns and conspiring to smuggle them.

The Oregonian reports prosecutors said Elortegui, of Beaverton, and Cummins, of Eugene, purchased more than $70,000 worth or semiautomatic firearms in 2013 and 2014, some of which were recovered in Mexico.

Elortegui is also accused of buying grinding tools to remove gun serial numbers.

Government prosecutors say firearms traffickers commonly buy guns in the U.S. and mark them up before selling them to Mexican drug dealers who can't get certain weapons through regular commercial channels in Mexico.