Federal Agents Seize Guns, Ammo Heading to Mexico

Officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized a shipment of tactical weapons and ammunition that was being smuggled into Mexico.

The illegal shipment was found by CBP officers at the Port of Nogales on March 27, according to a statement from CBP officials obtained by Breitbart Texas. The discovery was made as two people attempted to cross through the port of entry located south of Tucson, Arizona.

A woman from Phoenix was driving a Ford SUV. She was accompanied by a man who was later identified as a U.S. citizen who is living in Mexico. During the outbound inspection, officers became suspicious and asked the driver to move the vehicle to a secondary inspection station, the CBP statement revealed. During the secondary inspection, officers discovered two “tactical rifles,” rifle components, and 3,000 rounds of ammunition.

The two individuals were arrested and turned over to Homeland Security Investigations, a division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The vehicle and the contraband were seized as well.

Just last week, CBP officers at this same station stopped 5,560 rounds of ammunition from being delivered to cartel members in Mexico, Breitbart Texas reported. In this case, it was an 18-year-old Mexican male who was driving the load into Mexico. The load contained both rifle and pistol ammunition.

“This interception is a direct result of the hard work and continued vigilance of our CBP officers,” Nogales Port Director Guadalupe Ramirez said last week in a written statement obtained by Breitbart Texas. “Keeping ammunition out of the hands of drug traffickers disrupts their operations and reduces violence along the border.”

In November 2015, Breitbart Texas’ Ildefonso Ortiz reported that federal agents in El Paso, Texas, arrested a Mexican woman who had allegedly purchased and smuggled nearly 11,000 rounds of ammunition into Mexico. Agents had received a tip about a group that was buying up large quantities of ammunition at local gun and sporting-goods stores.

The investigation revealed the woman had purchased 10,900 rounds of 9mm handgun ammunition and 7.62×39 ammunition used in AK-47 rifles.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and is a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.