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.
$66K in cash seized from truck headed to Mexico from South Texas
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.