Boss: Arlington truck driver with ammo took wrong turn to Mexico | Arlington | News from...
Quote:
By JUAN CARLOS LLORCA
Associated Press
EL PASO, Texas — The boss of a truck driver caught with 268,000 rounds of ammunition in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, said Thursday that his employee took a wrong turn on his way to deliver what he insists was legal cargo bound for an Arizona dealer.
Dennis Mekenye, operations manager at Demco freight company of Arlington, said Jabin Bogan, 27, made "a very honest mistake" when he took a wrong turn that eventually led him to Mexico on Tuesday. Mekenye said h has 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," he said.
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, he proceeded to drive to the third stop at a company called Carefusion 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 head south for three or four miles and then he could make a U-turn," Mekenye said. "By the time he made the U-turn he was in Mexico and police said they had to inspect the truck."
When authorities found the ammunition they detained him, Mekenye said. The trucking company has the information from the rig’s global positioning system unit and knows exactly where Bogan went, Mekenye said. Federal government officials are helping with the process, but the process is one McKenye is not familiar with, he said.
“The last time I spoke with (the driver) was 7:30 p.m. Tuesday when they were inspecting the truck,” Mekenye said. “No one is hiding anything. We just have to prove that this was a legal shipment.”
He could not confirm whether the law enforcement officer Bogan talked to was from the U.S. or Mexico.
Mekenye said the latest information he has indicates that Bogan has been transferred to a jail in Mexico City. Bogan is married with a 4-year-old son and Mekenye said he talked with the driver's mother and sister on Thursday.
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," Glaser said.
"They are making a big political issue out of this," he said.
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 said 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.
Staff writer Mitch Mitchell contributed to this report.
By JUAN CARLOS LLORCA
Associated Press
EL PASO, Texas — The boss of a truck driver caught with 268,000 rounds of ammunition in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, said Thursday that his employee took a wrong turn on his way to deliver what he insists was legal cargo bound for an Arizona dealer.
Dennis Mekenye, operations manager at Demco freight company of Arlington, said Jabin Bogan, 27, made "a very honest mistake" when he took a wrong turn that eventually led him to Mexico on Tuesday. Mekenye said h has 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," he said.
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, he proceeded to drive to the third stop at a company called Carefusion 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 head south for three or four miles and then he could make a U-turn," Mekenye said. "By the time he made the U-turn he was in Mexico and police said they had to inspect the truck."
When authorities found the ammunition they detained him, Mekenye said. The trucking company has the information from the rig’s global positioning system unit and knows exactly where Bogan went, Mekenye said. Federal government officials are helping with the process, but the process is one McKenye is not familiar with, he said.
“The last time I spoke with (the driver) was 7:30 p.m. Tuesday when they were inspecting the truck,” Mekenye said. “No one is hiding anything. We just have to prove that this was a legal shipment.”
He could not confirm whether the law enforcement officer Bogan talked to was from the U.S. or Mexico.
Mekenye said the latest information he has indicates that Bogan has been transferred to a jail in Mexico City. Bogan is married with a 4-year-old son and Mekenye said he talked with the driver's mother and sister on Thursday.
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," Glaser said.
"They are making a big political issue out of this," he said.
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 said 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.
Staff writer Mitch Mitchell contributed to this report.
Excuse me.......
How the heck does a truck that is not supposed to.......Get across an "International" border??? Especially the MEXICO border???
