TUCSON, Ariz. — In late May, Jorge Armando Lopez-Espinoza, 42, a Mexican citizen, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Marquez to 46 months in prison for attempting to smuggle ammunition from the United States into Mexico.
According to court records, in May 2020 Lopez-Espinoza conspired with others to smuggle 8,000 rounds of ammunition from Nogales, Arizona, across the border to Mexico using his tractor-trailer.
Law enforcement agents intercepted the shipments of ammunition before Lopez-Espinoza acquired them. On May 14, 2020, Lopez-Espinoza picked up boxes he believed to contain the 8,000 rounds of ammunition, hid them in his tractor-trailer and attempted to enter Mexico through the Nogales Port of Entry. Lopez-Espinoza later admitted he believed he was smuggling ammunition in the boxes, that he expected to be paid for doing so, and that he had previously smuggled ammunition into Mexico in exchange for payment.
Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation in this case, with the assistance of Customs and Border Protection. Angela Woolridge, assistant U.S. attorney, District of Arizona, Tucson handled the prosecution.
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