EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Federal officials in Laredo, Texas, say a traffic stop by local police has led them to 5,000 high-caliber bullets reportedly headed to a Mexican drug cartel.
The Laredo police officers who pulled over a Toyota pickup near the intersection of U.S. Highway 83 and La Pita Mangana Road on Feb. 6 began asking questions after running a background check on the driver’s name. They learned that Julio Cesar Hernandez had a “lengthy criminal history” in Webb County, Texas, according to a complaint affidavit filed Feb. 7 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
A man later identified as Marcos Ulises Salazar Esquivel, a Mexican national illegally present in the United States, was a passenger in the Toyota.
Records show the Laredo officers located approximately 5,000 rounds of 5.56-caliber ammunition in the rear seat of the Toyota and a small amount of cocaine in Salazar’s pants pocket. The officers allegedly also found a 9mm Taurus G3c pistol and two magazines loaded with eight and six bullets each in another part of the truck.
In a post-arrest interview, Hernandez allegedly told investigators he is “closely tied” to a Mexican drug cartel and was transporting the ammunition to an individual who would smuggle it into Mexico, according to the affidavit.
Hernandez allegedly said he was in the middle of a drug transaction with Salazar when Laredo police stopped him. Hernandez gave the passenger an ounce of cocaine as a “sample” in anticipation of the purchase of half a kilogram of cocaine, court records allege.
Hernandez allegedly also gave Salazar a round of 5.56-caliber ammunition. That type of bullet is used by AR-15-style rifles and the M16, according to industry and trade websites.
In an interview with investigators, Salazar said Hernandez gave him the cocaine found in his pocket as well as the bullet, the affidavit states.
Hernandez is being held on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and/or ammunition. Salazar is being held on a charge of being an illegal alien in possession of ammunition.
Records show Hernandez made his initial appearance Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher Dos Santos in Laredo. No bond was set. A preliminary examination and detention hearing is scheduled for Feb. 14.
Court documents reference Hernandez claiming ties to a “Cartel del Norte” in Mexico.
The Northeast cartel (Cartel del Noreste) is known to operate in the Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, region across the border from Laredo, Texas, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Mexico has long demanded that the U.S. government do more to stem the illegal flow of firearms and ammunition flowing across the border. One of the clauses in a Feb. 2 truce to reciprocal tariffs reached by the Trump administration and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo was for the U.S. to do more to stop the trafficking of firearms to Mexico.
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