Mexican Thwarted in Bold Attempt to Smuggle Ammunition Across Border

By Matthew Holloway |

A Mexican national, Jose Herrera Daniel, 56, from Agua Prieta, Sonora, was apprehended on May 13 for attempting to smuggle over 6,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition from Arizona into Mexico via the Douglas Port of Entry. The following day, he was charged for illegally exporting ammunition, an action framed within the scope of “Operation Take Back America” by the Department of Justice.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the District of Arizona revealed that Daniel’s vehicle prompted an alert from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection K-9 officer trained to detect weapons, ammunition, and currency at the Port of Entry. A subsequent scan of the vehicle exposed multiple anomalies in the rocker panels, leading to a physical examination that uncovered thousands of rounds of ammunition concealed in plastic bags.

Operation Take Back America represents a nationwide initiative aimed at combating illegal immigration and dismantling transnational criminal organizations (TCOs). The USAO states that the initiative pools resources from the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN) to ensure community safety.

This arrest aligns with an internal memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, which instructs the DOJ to pursue serious, provable offenses and emphasizes the focus on illegal immigration, human trafficking, and cartel-related crimes, notably involving groups like Tren de Aragua (TdA) and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13).

Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.