Two U.S. Citizens Detained in Mexicali For Alleged Weapons Smuggling

http://www.kpbs.org/news/local;id=10422

Two U.S. Citizens were detained in Mexicali over the weekend for trying to enter Mexico with a machine gun and a large amount of ammunition. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson has details.

Mexican customs officials detained the San Bernardino couple as they crossed the border from Calexico to Mexicali.

Lorena Blanco is spokeswoman for the U.S. Consualte in Tijuana.

She says customs officials searched Billy Schmidt and Claudia Black's bags and found an AR-15 machine gun.

Blanco: And 25,000 rounds of ammunition. They're being held in Mexicali by federal authorities.

Crossing the border with high-caliber ammunition is punishable by five to 15 years in prison.

It’s also against the law in Mexico to possess a weapon only the military is allowed to use, like an automatic assault rifle.

It’s not clear why the couple had the gun and ammunition.

U.S. and Mexican federal officials estimate more than 90 percent of illegal firearms in Mexico are smuggled from the United States.

Amy Isackson, KPBS News.