PHOENIX - Smugglers are turning to Arizona and other Southwest border states to buy ammunition that they then sneak across the border for use by Mexican drug gangs.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told The Arizona Republic that most of the ammunition used by the drug gangs comes from the United States.
Hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition are purchased each year from online retailers, big-box stores and at gun shows in Arizona and other Southwest border states and are smuggled across the border.
Over the past five years, seizures of ammunition at Arizona's six ports of entry along the Mexican border have risen steeply, from 760 rounds in fiscal 2007 to 95,416 in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
That reflects both a stepped-up effort by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to check southbound vehicles for guns and bullets and a rising demand for ammo by drug groups.
One factor that enables the smuggling is the relative ease with which bullets can be bought in the United States. In Mexico, ammunition is strictly regulated, and possession of even a single illegal round can lead to prison.
Under federal law, buyers must be U.S. citizens and have no felony convictions. Anyone over 18 can buy rifle ammunition. Anyone over 21 can buy handgun ammo.
The decision to sell 10, 100 or even 10,000 rounds of ammunition is left up to the individual retailer. Sellers don't have to record the transaction or report the buyer to authorities under federal law.
Joe Agosttini, assistant port director in Nogales, said that before 2009, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents relied on a method called "pulse and surge," which means they ran searches for a limited number of hours at various entry points.
Now, in Nogales, searches are done 24 hours a day, seven days a week at the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry and 16 hours a day at the Mariposa Port of Entry.
Smugglers buy ammunition in Ariz., other border states
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told The Arizona Republic that most of the ammunition used by the drug gangs comes from the United States.
Hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition are purchased each year from online retailers, big-box stores and at gun shows in Arizona and other Southwest border states and are smuggled across the border.
Over the past five years, seizures of ammunition at Arizona's six ports of entry along the Mexican border have risen steeply, from 760 rounds in fiscal 2007 to 95,416 in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
That reflects both a stepped-up effort by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to check southbound vehicles for guns and bullets and a rising demand for ammo by drug groups.
One factor that enables the smuggling is the relative ease with which bullets can be bought in the United States. In Mexico, ammunition is strictly regulated, and possession of even a single illegal round can lead to prison.
Under federal law, buyers must be U.S. citizens and have no felony convictions. Anyone over 18 can buy rifle ammunition. Anyone over 21 can buy handgun ammo.
The decision to sell 10, 100 or even 10,000 rounds of ammunition is left up to the individual retailer. Sellers don't have to record the transaction or report the buyer to authorities under federal law.
Joe Agosttini, assistant port director in Nogales, said that before 2009, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents relied on a method called "pulse and surge," which means they ran searches for a limited number of hours at various entry points.
Now, in Nogales, searches are done 24 hours a day, seven days a week at the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry and 16 hours a day at the Mariposa Port of Entry.
Smugglers buy ammunition in Ariz., other border states