U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have arrested a man accused of smuggling 1,750 round of ammunition from the United States into Mexico.
Jose Francisco Rodriguez, address unknown and born in 1988, reportedly had 750 rounds of 9mm Luger ammunition, 400 rounds of .45 caliber ammunition, 400 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition, and 200 rounds of 38 special ammunition in a truck he was trying to cross at the B&M International Bridge in Brownsville on Saturday, a federal criminal complaint reads.
According to the criminal complaint, Rodriguez was trying to leave the United States in a GMC Sierra pickup truck when CBP officers stopped it for inspection.
Rodriguez told the officer he had no firearms, ammunition, or contraband in his truck, the criminal complaint said.
CBP officers searched the truck and found the ammunition hidden inside the rear seat cushion and behind a panel at the rear wall end of the truck, the criminal complaint states.
Homeland Security Investigation special agent interviewed Rodriguez and he admitted to purchasing the ammunition at a store in Brownsville and concealing it in the truck because he knew it was illegal to export ammunition into Mexico and that he never applied for a license to export the items, the criminal complaint read.
Rodriguez appeared Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald G. Morgan who ordered he be held without bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.
