Federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms say a Valley man was part of a multi-state gun running ring that was shipping weapons to Mexico.

The U.S. Attorney's office in Texas said Tracy Garwood was illegally shipping machine guns to a man that was trying to sell them south of the border.

Garwood is the owner of Garwood Industries. The company's website says it's mission is to build next generation electric mini-guns. A mini-gun is a weapon with six rotating barrels (a modern version of the Gatling gun) capable of shooting 2,000 to 6,000 rounds per minute.

Federal officials say Garwood lied to the ATF about destroying the heavily regulated weapons that he was actually shipping to the gun runner in Texas.

Garwood claims he didn't actually know his guns were bound for the border. However, the brother of a murdered border agent says that doesn't matter for border agents.

"These guys don't get paid enough down there to be confronted with men armed by people from America," said Kent Terry.

Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed in 2010 by a gang of desert bandits who prey on illegal border crossers. The gun used was from the government's botched Fast and Furious program.

This time, the illicit gun ring was trying to smuggle 200 guns and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammo.