EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — Border officers seized a load of ammunition that is more than or comparable to the number of rounds confiscated in an entire year.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said officers found 11,000 rounds of 7.62 mm caliber ammo in the quarter panels of a 2011 Honda Ridgeline on Tuesday afternoon.
The driver, a 32-year-old Mexican man, arrived from Juarez at the Bridge of the Americas, where a low-energy portal scan of the Ridgeline revealed anomalies.
During a secondary inspection, a CBP canine trained to sniff out cash and weapons alerted officers, prompting a secondary Z-portal X-ray scan.
Border officers said they found several plastic bags filled with bullets.
The driver was arrested and faces federal charges of smuggling goods into the U.S. He was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations.
CBP said it was the largest ammo seizure at the Bridge of the Americas since officers found 93,000 rounds of ammunition in a vehicle heading into Mexico on Aug. 17, 2024.
“The volume of this seizure is substantial,” CBP El Paso Director of Field Operations Hector Mancha said. “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.”