The police department in a small New Mexico town, two miles north of the international border, has been implicated in selling guns illegally to foreign drug cartels.

Several federal agencies swept through the New Mexico border town of Columbus Thursday morning arresting nearly a dozen people including the mayor, a village councilor and the chief of police who are suspected of smuggling guns into Mexico.

According to a 26-page indictment the investigation into the suspected gun smuggling operation began 15 months ago.

State law enforcement agencies also participated in the crackdown and county law enforcement is said to have asked for the town police department to be “shut down”.