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TUCSON, Ariz. — Federal authorities say they’ve busted a firearms trafficking ring that tried to smuggle weapons and ammunition from Arizona to Mexico.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it worked with another federal law enforcement agency and has identified 21 suspects in the southern Arizona ring.

Authorities arrested 19 of the suspects in the past week and are looking for the rest of them.

The investigation began last year after the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives obtained information following a firearms seizure in Mexico. The agency learned that a group was fraudulently buying firearms and then smuggling them into Mexico.

Mexico has strict gun control laws and a majority of weapons and ammunition come from the United States.

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