Woman indicted in gun smuggling case

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - The wife of a former Columbus village trustee is the latest person to be indicted in connection with a smuggling ring that federal authorities say funneled hundreds of guns into Mexico.

Prosecutors say a federal grand jury in Las Cruces has returned a five-count indictment against Gabriela Gutierrez, the wife of Blas Gutierrez.

She's accused of conspiracy, making false statements in connection with the acquisition of firearms and smuggling goods from the Unites States.

The indictment alleges she conspired with her husband and others from January to March 2010 to buy firearms that would eventually be smuggled to Mexico.

Gutierrez's husband along with the town's former mayor, the former police chief and nearly a dozen other people already have pleaded guilty in the case. Most of them were indicted earlier this year.