Cartel members seize seven million rounds of ammunition destined for U.S.

[HCM]

Original Story:

https://www.milenio.com/policia/comando-roba-miles-cartuchos-utiles-san-luis-paz

Por los gringos:

https://www.westernjournal.com/gunmen-ambush-ammo-caravan-headed-texas-7-million-rounds-destined-america-now-hands-violent-criminals/


A convoy loaded down with more than seven million rounds of ammunition has been hijacked while on route from Mexico to Texas.

While the trucks were found abandoned only a few miles from the ambush site on the southern side of the border, every piece of ammo is now missing.

Officials do not know who was behind the ambush on Wednesday, but in a country awash with cartel violence the list of suspects is seemingly limited to those involved with the narco networks.

According to Milenio, the hijacking took place in the violent state of Guanajuato.

As the convoy rolled through the town of Cabana del Rey early Wednesday morning, remote operators noticed the GPS signals of the transport trucks and their security escorts went dark.

Because of the nature of the convoy’s cargo, the Mexican Army immediately set out on an intercept course.

While the soldiers were not able to locate or engage the gunmen, they did find the trailers which originally held the massive cache of ammunition. The containers were discovered to be completely empty.


Looks like Academy won't have .22 LR next week.

[HeavyDuty]

Is this a second incident? The details are a little different from the earlier reports, in the first the trucks weren’t found and there was no mention of tracking devices.

[TiroFijo]

Original Story:

https://www.milenio.com/policia/comando-roba-miles-cartuchos-utiles-san-luis-paz

Por los gringos:

https://www.westernjournal.com/gunmen-ambush-ammo-caravan-headed-texas-7-million-rounds-destined-america-now-hands-violent-criminals/



Looks like Academy won't have .22 LR next week.

Aguila shortage

[CCT125US]

Wonder if the shipment was from Aguila? I recall a write up in Recoil? about the security measures in place at the factory, as well as distribution routes.



And this little blurb from the end of the article, should help calm people down:

"Considering FBI Director Christopher Wray recently warned about cartel violence spilling over into the United States, the seven million round imbalance is sure to only worsen the problem and keep Americans scrambling for scarce ammunition.

If this problem continues, American citizens may soon find themselves in the dire position of being outgunned by organized criminals from south of the border".

[RevolverRob]

Wonder if the shipment was from Aguila? I recall a write up in Recoil? about the security measures in place at the factory, as well as distribution routes.



And this little blurb from the end of the article, should help calm people down:

"Considering FBI Director Christopher Wray recently warned about cartel violence spilling over into the United States, the seven million round imbalance is sure to only worsen the problem and keep Americans scrambling for scarce ammunition.

If this problem continues, American citizens may soon find themselves in the dire position of being outgunned by organized criminals from south of the border".

Maybe outgunned?

I live in Chicago and don't roll around in an armored technical with a .50 on a pintle in the back. But hey maybe under the "new ATF" - I'll finally be able to get that, since they seem to think that they're available at every corner store.

I would say this may be the end of Aguila Mexico. Time for them to pack up and move to north Mexico, I mean south Texas.

[Suvorov]

Possibly related.

A couple months ago my club was able to score a whole pallet of 9mm ammo from Crows/Brownells. It was shipped and during the shipping it was transferred through SantaFe Springs California where it disappeared. That’s right, a whole pallet of 9mm just disappeared.

I’m sure it went to people who needed it and had honorable intentions.

[HCM]

Wonder if the shipment was from Aguila? I recall a write up in Recoil? about the security measures in place at the factory, as well as distribution routes.



And this little blurb from the end of the article, should help calm people down:

"Considering FBI Director Christopher Wray recently warned about cartel violence spilling over into the United States, the seven million round imbalance is sure to only worsen the problem and keep Americans scrambling for scarce ammunition.

If this problem continues, American citizens may soon find themselves in the dire position of being outgunned by organized criminals from south of the border".

It’s horseshit, which is why I didn’t quote it.

The cartels dont use much .22LR but they can always sell it.

The theft was likely an inside job.

[HCM]

Possibly related.

A couple months ago my club was able to score a whole pallet of 9mm ammo from Crows/Brownells. It was shipped and during the shipping it was transferred through SantaFe Springs California where it disappeared. That’s right, a whole pallet of 9mm just disappeared.

I’m sure it went to people who needed it and had honorable intentions.

Don’t read too much into it.

Do you know how many guns go/went missing in transit with UPS, DHL etc ? Even before COVID ?

In a time when 9mm ammo is scarce and prices are 3x-4x normal why wouldn’t any thief steal a scarce and valuable commodity they can easily convert to cash ?

[CCT125US]

From TFB:

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2021/06/14/ammunition-stolen-guanajuato/

4 million 872 thousand high speed .22 caliber Long Rifle (LR) cartridges.
1 million 230 thousand cartridges .22 caliber LR high speed PH
295 thousand .40 caliber S&W cartridges
215 thousand .22 caliber cartridges LR super hummingbird
117 thousand .45 caliber automatic cartridges
100 thousand cartridges .38 caliber special jacketed
99,000 M 7 1/2 high speed .410 caliber cartridges
87 thousand cartridges caliber 7.62 × 51 mm 150 GN
71 mil 500 caliber .12 minishell post
25 thousand cartridges caliber .38 super auto + P
3 thousand caliber 12 minishell slug cartridges

[Suvorov]

Don’t read too much into it.

Do you know how many guns go/went missing in transit with UPS, DHL etc ? Even before COVID ?

In a time when 9mm ammo is scarce and prices are 3x-4x normal why wouldn’t any thief steal a scarce and valuable commodity they can easily convert to cash ?

Because in California it would be illegal for the thief to sell or transfer the ammo they stole without a background check. How could they convert the ammo to cash without breaking the law?

Come on man......

[HCM]

Because in California it would be illegal for the thief to sell or transfer the ammo they stole without a background check. How could they convert the ammo to cash without breaking the law?

Come on man......

I said easily, not legally.

[Casual Friday]

One of my honey holes for ammo used to be Southern Ohio Gun prior to them closing shop. Low prices, fast shipping, great customer service. The caveat was that almost every time I ordered multiple cases of ammo, at least one would go missing after hitting the same UPS hub in Illinois. This was a common problem and SOG was great about initiating the claim with UPS and getting me a refund quickly. Shortly before they closed in 2018, they put their Wolf 7.62x39 on sale for 2005 prices. I called and placed an order for the last six cases they had in stock. Five showed up. As usual, SOG took care of it.

[SD]

Glad they made good on itwheel man has to get his cut of the stash.
One of my honey holes for ammo used to be Southern Ohio Gun prior to them closing shop. Low prices, fast shipping, great customer service. The caveat was that almost every time I ordered multiple cases of ammo, at least one would go missing after hitting the same UPS hub in Illinois. This was a common problem and SOG was great about initiating the claim with UPS and getting me a refund quickly. Shortly before they closed in 2018, they put their Wolf 7.62x39 on sale for 2005 prices. I called and placed an order for the last six cases they had in stock. Five showed up. As usual, SOG took care of it.

[Suvorov]

I said easily, not legally.

Surly you are not suggesting a person who stole a pallet of ammunition would not follow our glorious Governor’s glorious ammunition law? 😳

[blues]

https://mauiwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/D972E4D9-8B34-4CE6-97CD-4CF7377C3781-660x330.jpeg

"We want Ammo..."

[Archer1440]

One of my honey holes for ammo used to be Southern Ohio Gun prior to them closing shop. Low prices, fast shipping, great customer service. The caveat was that almost every time I ordered multiple cases of ammo, at least one would go missing after hitting the same UPS hub in Illinois. This was a common problem and SOG was great about initiating the claim with UPS and getting me a refund quickly. Shortly before they closed in 2018, they put their Wolf 7.62x39 on sale for 2005 prices. I called and placed an order for the last six cases they had in stock. Five showed up. As usual, SOG took care of it.

Sometimes UPS does “legitimately” lose stuff. There’s a place called NPS near my old workplace that sold, among other things, pallets of stuff that UPS lost, and settled with the owners.

I would see ammo there nearly every time I would look (which wasn’t often- normally I would go there every few months to confirm my company’s archery gear that ended up on their pallets so it could be bought back and destroyed rather than end up on ebay with no parts or owners manuals… a lot of semi-finished Olympic bow risers machined in SLC and then sent to LA for anodize used to “disappear” after leaving the anodize facility in Los Angeles, only to end up at that liquidator in SLC months later- then consumers would call customer service to ask for parts for “the bow they bought that shipped with no bushings or limb bolts”. Well, yeah. Not going through final assembly at the factory will do that).

Scored a couple cases of $4/box Federal .45 230 ball that way once… in something like 2006.

[Casual Friday]

Sometimes UPS does “legitimately” lose stuff. There’s a place called NPS near my old workplace that sold, among other things, pallets of stuff that UPS lost, and settled with the owners.

I would see ammo there nearly every time I would look (which wasn’t often- normally I would go there every few months to confirm my company’s archery gear that ended up on their pallets so it could be bought back and destroyed rather than end up on ebay with no parts or owners manuals… a lot of semi-finished Olympic bow risers machined in SLC and then sent to LA for anodize used to “disappear” after leaving the anodize facility in Los Angeles, only to end up at that liquidator in SLC months later- then consumers would call customer service to ask for parts for “the bow they bought that shipped with no bushings or limb bolts”. Well, yeah. Not going through final assembly at the factory will do that).

Scored a couple cases of $4/box Federal .45 230 ball that way once… in something like 2006.

If it occurred at different places, I'd be a little more inclined to believe it just got lost, but several times from the same depot and nowhere else leaves me more than a little suspicious.

We had a place like that about 15 years ago, it was called Stupid Prices. Lots of stuff from UPS, Costco, and Target. Only made it a few years.

[revchuck38]

No 9x19? Glad to see that, GJM would've been pissed if he lost his weekly drop shipment...


From TFB:

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2021/06/14/ammunition-stolen-guanajuato/

4 million 872 thousand high speed .22 caliber Long Rifle (LR) cartridges.
1 million 230 thousand cartridges .22 caliber LR high speed PH
295 thousand .40 caliber S&W cartridges
215 thousand .22 caliber cartridges LR super hummingbird
117 thousand .45 caliber automatic cartridges
100 thousand cartridges .38 caliber special jacketed
99,000 M 7 1/2 high speed .410 caliber cartridges
87 thousand cartridges caliber 7.62 × 51 mm 150 GN
71 mil 500 caliber .12 minishell post
25 thousand cartridges caliber .38 super auto + P
3 thousand caliber 12 minishell slug cartridges

[GJM]

From TFB:

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2021/06/14/ammunition-stolen-guanajuato/

4 million 872 thousand high speed .22 caliber Long Rifle (LR) cartridges.
1 million 230 thousand cartridges .22 caliber LR high speed PH
295 thousand .40 caliber S&W cartridges
215 thousand .22 caliber cartridges LR super hummingbird
117 thousand .45 caliber automatic cartridges
100 thousand cartridges .38 caliber special jacketed
99,000 M 7 1/2 high speed .410 caliber cartridges
87 thousand cartridges caliber 7.62 × 51 mm 150 GN
71 mil 500 caliber .12 minishell post
25 thousand cartridges caliber .38 super auto + P
3 thousand caliber 12 minishell slug cartridges

Now that I see what was stolen, I would round up the usual suspects, and half of them are regulars on Pistol-Forum.

[AKDoug]

That load would just about fit in a 53' dry van. Not sure why they'd need a "convoy".. I didn't run all the numbers, but they may have just barely needed a second truck.

added on edit... yeah, that would be two trucks.

[HCM]

That load would just about fit in a 53' dry van. Not sure why they'd need a "convoy".. I didn't run all the numbers, but they may have just barely needed a second truck.

added on edit... yeah, that would be two trucks.

Mexico is not the USA.

Two trucks plus security escort vehicles, a scout and a chase car if they’re doing it right.

[TheNewbie]

Mexico is not the USA.

Two trucks plus security escort vehicles, a scout and a chase car if they’re doing it right.


Just got back from the real deal Mexico yesterday. It’s certainly not the USA. In some good ways, in some bad, in some funny and in some scary.


Saw a couple of bodyguards at a “fancy” restaurant in DF. They were dressed business casual, but one had some kind of knock off serpa style holster sticking out from under his vest, and the other guy had some kind of chest pack on. A pack that sort of looked normal but also not so normal, especially when combined with the dude with a gun.


Guess they could be cops, maybe PDI?, but they didn’t look like most cops I’ve seen in Mexico. Not even the more professional ones.


I’m surprised missing ammo isn’t more common in Mexico. Very surprised.


Also, kudos to the Guardia Nacional officer carrying the P-09.

[HCM]

Just got back from the real deal Mexico yesterday. It’s certainly not the USA. In some good ways, in some bad, in some funny and in some scary.


Saw a couple of bodyguards at a “fancy” restaurant in DF. They were dressed business casual, but one had some kind of knock off serpa style holster sticking out from under his vest, and the other guy had some kind of chest pack on. A pack that sort of looked normal but also not so normal, especially when combined with the dude with a gun.


Guess they could be cops, maybe PDI?, but they didn’t look like most cops I’ve seen in Mexico. Not even the more professional ones.


I’m surprised missing ammo isn’t more common in Mexico. Very surprised.


Also, kudos to the Guardia Nacional officer carrying the P-09.

I'm sure you know you don't leave town or travel by highway at night and even in daylight highways in the middle of nowhere are not "safe" if you have something worth targeting.

Normally getting black or gray market ammo from the USA is easier than getting guns.

[UNK]

Normally getting black or gray market ammo from the USA is easier than getting guns.

So…is there a website or a street corner?…asking for a friend

[TheNewbie]

I'm sure you know you don't leave town or travel by highway at night and even in daylight highways in the middle of nowhere are not "safe" if you have something worth targeting.

Normally getting black or gray market ammo from the USA is easier than getting guns.


Roger that! It’s a piece of advice you can’t hear too often.

Stopped at a couple of roadside restrooms. In Mexico, you don’t generally find the traditional travel stop like you do in the US. If you’re not paying to use the restroom, it’s almost guaranteed to be nasty, even by the standards there. If you are paying, then you get no guarantee.


One place felt safe, one not so safe. I think I feel most unsafe when I’m in Estado de Mexico.


Iztapalapa I’ll visit in the day, not so much at night.


There are a few islands of tranquility in Mexico, but they could change at a moments notice.


In your dealings, have you found law enforcement in Mexico to really care about fighting crime and protecting their communities? What about the state cops?


For all the 3rd Gen S&W fans, they are alive and well in the police forces in Mexico City.

[5pins]

Mexico is not the USA.

Two trucks plus security escort vehicles, a scout and a chase car if they’re doing it right.

Apparently they weren't.

[Borderland]

Everything went wrong, or maybe right, depending on who you are. Loading dock guy have a cell phone. Probably.