'Asylum seekers' caught transporting 30,000 rounds of ammo — cartel link suspected: Report

Several "asylum seekers," believed to be connected to a Mexican drug cartel, were reportedly caught transporting nearly 30,000 rounds of ammunition in Arizona.

A multi-agency investigation in mid-January led to the seizure of 10,000 rounds of .50 caliber ammunition and 19,640 rounds of 7.62x39 ammunition from two vehicles traveling on Interstate 10.

'The Cartels have engaged in a campaign of violence and terror.'

Cochise County Counter Narcotics and Trafficking Alliance released a statement over the weekend concerning the bust.

"The vehicle containing the 7.62x39 ammunition was interdicted by the Pinal County Sheriff's office. Still, the second vehicle containing the .50 caliber ammunition was located by CNTA investigators at Motel 6 in Benson," the sheriff's office wrote.

The statement further noted that three of the vehicles' occupants were "asylum seekers," one of whom was a Cuban national. A fourth individual was identified as an American citizen from Texas.

Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels stated that the individuals were arrested.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives lead the ongoing investigation.

While it has not yet been confirmed, authorities suspect the large ammunition haul is tied to a Mexican drug cartel.

Bernard Zapor, a retired ATF special agent in charge, told KSAZ-TV, "One thing for sure is that U.S. ammunition is a massively sought commodity in Mexico. It is priceless."

"There's a couple of things that are very interesting about this: the way that it was being transported, it wasn't concealed from the photographs of the arrests. It was very blatantly just stored in an SUV, which indicates to me that they probably had the crossing into Mexico completely arranged," Zapor said.

On Monday, day one of President Donald Trump's second term, he signed an executive order designating cartels "as foreign terrorist organizations."

"The Cartels have engaged in a campaign of violence and terror throughout the Western Hemisphere that has not only destabilized countries with significant importance for our national interests but also flooded the United States with deadly drugs, violent criminals, and vicious gangs," the order read.

"The Cartels functionally control, through a campaign of assassination, terror, rape, and brute force nearly all illegal traffic across the southern border of the United States," it continued. "In certain portions of Mexico, they function as quasi-governmental entities, controlling nearly all aspects of society. The Cartels' activities threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere. Their activities, proximity to, and incursions into the physical territory of the United States pose an unacceptable national security risk to the United States."

Last week, the Department of Justice announced that it sentenced a "prolific firearms trafficker" to 19.5 years in prison for smuggling weapons and ammunition into Mexico for the Sinaloa Cartel.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Tara McGrath stated, "Guns and ammunition smuggled into Mexico support cartels and empower drug traffickers."

DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian Clark called the firearms and ammunition trafficking "a lifeline" for the cartel.

"Weapons trafficking fuels drug-related violence," Clark said.

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