A man who sold guns to illegal immigrants in Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border was sentenced Thursday to more than 12 years in prison.

At least some of the guns were intended to be taken across the border into Mexico, according to court documents.

Eduardo Hernandez bought dozens of guns and sold them to other buyers, acting as a straw purchaser on as many as 50 firearms.

He also admitted to delivering thousands of rounds of ammunition.

“Illegal aliens are prohibited from possessing firearms, period,” said Nicholas J. Ganjei, the U.S. attorney in southern Texas. “Hopefully Hernandez’s conviction and sentence will serve as a warning to others would consider supplying guns to those illegally in the country.”

The case comes as the Trump administration has promised to do more to stop the flow of American weapons south into Mexico, where authorities say they arm Mexico’s drug cartels.

Tackling the flow was a major demand of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in exchange for her country deploying more forces to stop illegal immigrants.

Authorities were tipped to the case during a drug-and-gun bust in late 2023, when they encountered an illegal immigrant who had a number of firearms.

Two of them, a Romarm/Cugir WASR-10UF rifle and a Zavasta 7.62x39mm rifle, had been bought by Hernandez then sold to Carlos Vazquez-Sanchez, an illegal immigrant.

Federal agents said the weapons were slated to be smuggled across the border into Mexico.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.