CBP Contraband Enforcement Team interdicts clandestine shipments of ammo for AK-47s
Ninety percent of the bullets were 7.62 x 39mm shells used in AK-47-style rifles favored by the Mexican drug cartels. Such rifles and ammo are banned in Mexico; its possession is punishable by up to 10 years in prison south of the border.
Members of the Nogales Contraband Enforcement Team typically focus on identifying and disrupting drug trafficking networks trying to move their product into the United States. But on Feb. 24 the team dedicated its resources to vehicles heading south to Mexico.
The result? The seizure of 18,000 bullets spread inside a false compartment in the bed of a vehicle. Video released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows officers using a crow bar, hammers and pliers forcing the compartment open.
CBP did not immediately identify the smuggler.
Four weeks earlier, the agency gave credit to Nogales CET members for an even larger ammunition bust. The officers again set up to check vehicles headed from Nogales, Arizona, to Nogales, Mexico, and found 18 cardboard boxes holding 25,000 7.62 x 39mm bullets.
Another 4,000 bullets, albeit .22-caliber, were seized Feb. 13.
The seizures are part of an ongoing CBP effort called Operation Southbound announced last May at the Nogales/Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales.
“Successful interdictions and seizures play a critical role in protecting America’s borders and national security by preventing illegal weapons reaching dangerous criminal networks,” said Guadalupe Ramirez, the Tucson Field Office director of field operations.
