EL PASO, Texas -- Officials said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents seized more than 23 guns from alleged arms traffickers at the border.

Among the seized weapons were rifles, casings and a semiautomatic .50-caliber weapon, the largest caliber weapon one can purchase legally.

The weapons were found inside a load of shingles in the back of a van on the Stanton Street bridge.

El Pasoan John Aguilar acted as an alleged "straw man," purchasing the weapons to sell to Mexican citizens.

He, along with Jonathan Lopez Gutierrez and Jose Alfredo Amador of Juarez, Mexico, were arrested.

"Our goal is to prevent the acquiring of firearms by any criminal element whether they're on the United States side or the Mexican side. We want to keep these firearms out of the hands of people who use them for illegal activities," said an ICE agent.

It's unclear if the weapons were headed for organized crime groups.