𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗣𝗔𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗟 𝗦𝗘𝗜𝗭𝗘𝗦 𝟮𝟳𝟬 𝗚𝗨𝗡𝗦 𝗛𝗜𝗗𝗗𝗘𝗡 𝗜𝗡 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗔𝗧 𝗗𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗔 𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗬

 

9/15/2023~A report by SocalJ of Borderland Beat indicates that two men driving a red GMC pickup truck carrying water heaters were detained in the outbound lane at the Donna Port of Entry.

Border Patrol agents discovered 270 guns hidden behind a compartment in the appliances.

The driver of the pickup, Alex Santos-Lopez and the passenger, Jose Luis Pancheco, were arrested and charged with transporting merchandise without a license.

The two men told BP agents that they's been planning the weapon delivery "for a month" and had agreed to split "$5,000" for the job.

Estimates of the number of weapons shipped annually into Mexico from the U.S. range from 250,000 to 1,000,000, although only between 2,000 to 3,000 are recovered by ICE and BP.

A Borderland Beat commenter disagrees with those government figures:

"I doubt that much guns get into mexico. They wouldn't be so expensive if that was the case. I think the lower number 250k might be closer. I believe the Cartels actually smuggle them in smaller numbers. And we all know the feds provide allot of them. That's the way they get informants to gather intelligence. They probably also trade weapons for intelligence."