Boss: Driver in ammo bust meant to go to Arizona
Apr. 19, 2012 05:37 PM
Associated Press
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/04/19/20120419mexico-
driver-ammo-bust-took-wrong-turn.html
EL PASO, Texas -- The boss of a truck driver caught with 268,000
rounds of ammunition in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, says his employee took
a wrong turn on his way to deliver what he says was legal cargo bound
for an Arizona dealer.
Dennis Mekenye, operations manager at Demco freight company in the
Dallas suburb of Arlington, said Thursday that driver Jabin Bogan,
27, made "a very honest mistake" when he took a wrong turn that
eventually led him to Mexico on Tuesday. Mekenye says he's been in
touch with U.S. law enforcement agencies and the U.S. consulate in
Ciudad Juarez.
"We want this solved, that is why we have been so forthcoming with
authorities."
ATF spokesman Tom Crowley said that agents in Juarez "are looking
into the specifics of what happened" but declined further comment.
The truck's tracking unit showed that it had entered into Mexico and
that is when Mekenye said he decided to call Bogan.
"We do not go into Mexico, our company is not licensed to go into
Mexico," Mekenye said. The driver told him over the phone that
Mexican authorities had detained him and were going to inspect the
cargo.
Mekenye said that Bogan informed him that after making two of his
three stops in El Paso, Texas, he proceeded to drive to the third
stop at company called Carefusion in El Paso before heading to
Phoenix, where the ammunition was to be delivered. But he took a
wrong turn and found himself at the Bridge of The Americas, unable to
make a U-Turn.
"He said a cop told him to go straight and then he could make a U-
turn," Mekenye told The Associated Press. He could not confirm
whether the law enforcement officer Bogan talked to was from the U.S.
or Mexico.
Delilah Dominguez at Carefusion said the company would not comment on
whether there was cargo expected to be delivered by Demco Tuesday.
Howard Glaser, owner of United Nations Ammunition in Phoenix, said
the cargo was 18,000 units of 5.56 caliber bullets like those used
for ar-15 assault rifles and 250,000 .308 caliber bullets. "They are
saying these (the .308 rounds) are for AK-47 rifles but the brass
casing is 12 millimeters longer, it will not fit in the chamber,"
said Glaser.
"They are making a big political issue out of this," said Glaser.
Glaser said he bought these surplus rounds from Wideners, an
ammunition distribution company in Tennessee and they were intended
to be sold mostly online at his online store. There was no immediate
comment from Wideners regarding this cargo.
The federal prosecutor's office in northern Chihuahua state said
Bogan is being held pending investigation on illegal weapons charges.
Spokesman Angel Torres says the driver claimed he had no goods to
declare. Torres said a gamma-ray inspection of the truck's cargo
compartment revealed the presence of metal canisters holding the
ammunition. He says the bullets were hidden under pallets in the
truck's floor.
Two calibers of ammunition were found, which can be fired by AR-15
and AK-47 assault rifles, Mexican prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said it was the largest seizure of ammunition in Ciudad
Juarez in recent memory.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/
2012/04/19/20120419mexico-driver-ammo-bust-took-wrong-
turn.html#ixzz1sYDHt0df
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