Pharr man pleads guilty after 600 rounds of .50 caliber ammo found during traffic stop

PHARR, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A 21-year-old man from Pharr pleaded guilty Tuesday to smuggling hundreds of rounds of .50 caliber ammunition from the United States, federal authorities announced.

Pedro Cruz Almeida Jr. admitted to exporting .50 caliber "tracer-equipped linked ammunition," without a license, a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office stated.

On Feb. 3, authorities conducted a traffic stop on a red Hyundai Elantra driven by Almeida. Authorities found 600 rounds of the ammunition in the vehicle during a search. Almeida admitted the intent was to transfer the ammo to a person at the port of entry.

"Almeida admitted he ordered ammunition [on] approximately 30 occasions over the past year," the release stated.

Six days later, agents seized another 300 rounds of ammunition that were postmarked to Almeida.