04/19/12- On Wednesday, April 18, Mexican authorities seized 268,000 rounds of assault rifle ammunition being hauled by a U.S. truck attempting to enter northern Mexico at the U.S.-Mexico border crossing at Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. 37-year-old driver Bogan Jabin Akeem allegedly told customs agents that he was not carrying any cargo in his truck. However, an inspection revealed 250,000 rounds of 7.62 x 39 caliber AK-47 ammunition, as well as another 18,000 rounds of 5.56 x 45 caliber ammunition used by AR-15 rifles in the truck bed. The ammunition was stored in metal canisters, while bullets were stashed in the truck’s floor, all of which was found with a gamma-ray inspection, reported Chihuahua federal prosecutors.
According to authorities, as reported by the Latin American Herald Tribune, the value of the goods seized amounted to roughly $80,000. This is considered to be one of the largest ammunition seizures in Juárez in recent history.
Demco Trans. Inc., the trucker’s employer, explained that the driver made a mistake. As reported by InSight, the company stated that the intended recipient of the ammunition was a gun store in Arizona, but the driver made a wrong turn after making a delivery in El Paso, Texas, and had no intention of crossing the border. Bogan Jabin Akeem was taken into custody after he explained the situation and asked to turn his truck around, Demco says, yet authorities refused and placed him under arrest.
The truck driver is currently being held by Mexican authorities pending investigation on illegal weapons charges. Ciudad Juárez’s local paper, El Diario, explained that members of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) have arrived in Mexico to further investigate the issue.
Sources:
“Cargamento de balas es legal, dicen en EU; aquí abren proceso.” El Diario. April 19, 2012.
Kane, Mike. “Mexico Detains US Trucker With Ammo Stash.” In Sight. April 19, 2012.