Authorities say that a Mexican truck driver has been sentenced to prison for attempting to smuggle thousands of rounds of ammunition across the border into Mexico.
Forty-two year old truck driver Jorge Armando Lopez-Espinoz was sentenced to 46 months in prison for attempting to smuggle ammunition, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Authorities said that in May of 2020, Lopez-Espinoza conspired with others to smuggle 8,000 rounds of ammunition from Nogales, Arizona, into Mexico.
Before Lopez-Espinoza was able to pick up the boxes of ammunition, law enforcement agents intercepted the shipment.
On May 14, 2020, Lopez-Espinoza picked up the boxes he believed contained the 8,000 rounds of ammunition, hid them in his tractor trailer, and attempted to enter Mexico through the Nogales Port of Entry.
After his arrest, Lopez-Espinoza told authorities that he thought that the shipment contained ammunition and that he expected to be paid for smuggling the shipment across the border. He also admitted to having smuggled ammunition into Mexico in exchange for payment in the past.
The investigation was conducted with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.