›› View photos: Uniform store raid

Federal agents handcuffed two men and seized truckloads of items from a law enforcement uniform store in Central El Paso after executing a search warrant Wednesday morning.

Almost 50 agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations swarmed the parking lot of the Uniforms of Texas store, 6601 Montana, a little after 8 a.m.

Officials of ICE and the U.S. attorney general's office said that more information could not revealed publicly and that the courts have sealed all documents.

The store sells law enforcement uniforms and supplies such as flashlights, boots, winter gear and other accessories. It also carries ammunition and body armor.

Before the store opened, agents approached a man who arrived in a Hummer and quickly took him inside.

Soon after that, more ICE agents and analysts arrived. Agents interviewed store employees as they arrived.

Around 10 a.m., two men were handcuffed and placed in the back of an unmarked truck. ICE agents and contracted workers began loading hundreds of bags of confiscated items into four large moving trucks.

The confiscated items appeared to be ammunition and law enforcement uniforms and supplies.

Rachel Gutierrez said she was at the shopping strip where the store is located around 7 a.


m., taking her child to Santé Pediatrics. She saw ICE agents in the back area waiting.

"They were blocking the back and watching out for employees," Gutierrez said. "I thought they were just doing some training or something."

Eventually, from the Santé lobby, she saw the parking lot fill up with uniformed agents.

"When I saw they blocked the parking lot and I saw the media was here, I knew something was up," Gutierrez said. "They were asking everyone who entered the parking lot what they were doing."

Employees of the Lucchese Factory Outlet, a store that sells boots and Western wear, said they are used to seeing law enforcement members at the store to shop. However, on Wednesday, they were shocked to see so many officers around the area so early in the morning.

Jesse Acevedo, an employee at Lucchese Factory Outlet, said he knew something was obviously different on Wednesday.

"I thought it was a crime scene," Acevedo said. "I was a little bit in shock."

At first, he thought there was some sort of immediate danger in the area. "I saw a cop when I pulled into the parking lot, and I asked if everything was OK or secure and he said, 'Yes,' " Acevedo said. "It was a little overwhelming."

Elvira Lopez, who was also at Santé Pediatrics, said she suspected there was a drug bust at the store.

"I always suspected something about that store," Uniforms of Texas, said Lopez. "I think (the agents) are there for a good reason."

Later, several customers -- some with law enforcement uniforms -- arrived to shop at the store and were turned away by agents.

A person in a Fort Bliss Fire Department-marked vehicle arrived to pick up about a dozen uniforms. Agents brought the uniforms out to the vehicle from inside the store.
