YUMA, Ariz. (AP) - An off-duty U.S. Border Patrol agent was jailed for more than a day after Mexican border officials found 650 rounds of ammunition in his car, authorities said Saturday. The unidentified agent was arrested Thursday as he entered Mexico at the San Luis Port of Entry in southwest Arizona, and was released late Friday and returned to the United States, Mexican and U.S. authorities said.
Mexican Customs inspectors found a bag containing 650 rounds of .40- caliber ammunition in the agent's 2006 Nissan Altima, Mexican authorities said. Possessing firearms or ammunition in Mexico is illegal and large warning signs are posted at border crossings.
Lloyd Easterling, a Border Patrol spokesman, said the agent was assigned to the agency's Yuma sector, but declined to release his name. He said officials worked with Mexican authorities to secure his release.
Off-duty agents can carry their firearms, but the agent was not armed when he was arrested, Easterling said. Agents also are told that they are not allowed to have weapons or ammunition in Mexico, Easterling said.
Authorities also said a woman and a girl were also in the Nissan and detained. Easterling said he did not know if they were also released.
A similar incident happened in April 2005, when Mexican officials detained two Border Patrol agents at the Mexicali Port of Entry after inspectors found boxes contained more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition. They were freed on bail after more than a week in a Mexican jail.
