SEATTLE - U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers found a load of ammunition in a vehicle that tried to cross into the United States the same size of all of last year's seizures combined.
CBP officers working at an El Paso port of entry noticed a suspicious vehicle crossing the Bridge of the Americas (BOTA) international crossing.
Officials say that a 2011 Honda Ridgeline driven by a Mexican national arrived from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico to the El Paso port of entry in the afternoon. After the vehicle underwent a primary inspection, a CBP officer selected it to go through a secondary exam after a Low Energy Portal scan revealed possible anomalies in the appearance of the pickup truck.
What is a Low Energy Portal scan?
A Low Energy Portal scan is a non-intrusive inspection system that uses low radiation doses to image vehicles in motion. By scanning a vehicle, CBP officers can more quickly identify potential threats and contraband such as weapons, weapons of mass effect or destruction, drugs, currency, and other illegal merchandise without physically touching the vehicle.
Congress appropriated $59 million for CBP to install this type of non-intrusive inspection system across all ports of entry in 2020.
More than 11,000 rounds of ammo found
As a CBP currency and firearms detection canine searched the vehicle, a secondary Z-portal X-ray scan also confirmed anomalies in the quarter panels of the truck. CBP officers then found multiple bags of loose 7.62 ammunition hidden within them. The rounds are commonly used for AK-47 assault rifles.
The 32-year-old Mexican national was quickly arrested for violating U.S. laws and trying to smuggle goods into the U.S. He was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations and federal prosecution was secured.
A substantial seizure
According to CBP officers, the ammo found within the quarter panels of the pickup truck was the largest ammo seizure at the Bridge of the Americas since officers found 93,000 rounds of ammunition hidden inside a commercial bus heading into Mexico back in August.
Officers found 1,650 boxes with 33,000 rounds of 7.62 x 39 ammunition, typically used in AK-47-style rifles. They also found nearly 3,000 boxes that contained almost 60,000 rounds of .223-caliber bullets, commonly used in the civilian version of the military M16 rifle.
Although not as big as the August seizure, CBP El Paso Director of Field Operations Hector Mancha said that the volume of this seizure was "substantial."
"To put it in perspective, CBP officers working at El Paso area ports seized 15,678 rounds of ammunition in all of fiscal year 2021, 7,224 rounds in fiscal year 2022 and 11,205 rounds in fiscal year 2023," Mancha said.
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