Officials said the rifles and shotguns were found in two large duffle bags during a secondary inspection.

AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin man faces up to a decade in prison for allegedly smuggling dozens of rifles into Mexico.

The Justice Department said 39-year-old Victor Hugo Diego-Avellaneda was arrested in Eagle Pass after trying to leave the U.S. through a port of entry on Jan. 19.

Diego-Avellaneda was sent for a secondary inspection after making telling officials he did not have weapons, ammunition or currency. That’s when a Border Patrol officer allegedly found 40 rifles, six shotguns, a pistol, 80 magazines and two rifle scopes stored in a pair of duffle bags.

According to officials, Diego-Avellaneda said he was being paid $100 for each firearm he smuggled into Mexico and that 11 of the firearms were his.

He’s now been charged with one count of smuggling goods out of the United States, which carries a maxmium of 10 years in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine his sentence at a later date.

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