EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – In a recent incident east of Phoenix, two Mexican nationals face federal charges after being apprehended for allegedly discharging firearms in a public setting.

Luis Alfonso Hernandez Felix and Jose Romario Zazueta Valenzuela were arrested following reports from U.S. Forest Service agents. The agents witnessed the suspects “recklessly shooting firearms into the air and ground” at Tonto National Forest, as detailed in a criminal complaint filed on October 7 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

During a specialized multi-agency patrol, the agents approached the scene and identified the pair with a Glock 9mm semi-automatic handgun and a .45-caliber pistol in their possession.

The complaint further reveals that the men were seen “discharging firearms without a safe back-stop (a barrier), with large public crowds potentially in the line of fire in front of Hernandez Felix and Zazueta Valenzuela.”

Accompanying the Forest Service agents were officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations. They conducted interviews in Spanish, learning that the firearms were borrowed from friends and confirming that neither individual had legal status in the United States.

The agents advised Hernandez and Zazueta that shooting at scattered refuse on the federal property is prohibited by posted sings and online public information. The ERO further advised the men that persons illegally present in the United States are ineligible to possess or discharge firearms.

The two face up to 10 years in prison after being charged with counts of possession of a firearm by an alien unlawfully present in the United States. They are also subject to removal from the country.

According to the Department of Justice, knowingly giving or selling a firearm to a prohibited person also is a felony. Hernandez and Zazueta said the friends they purportedly borrowed the guns from were not present, and they did not immediately identify them by name.