According to a Mexican news outlet, over 7 million rounds of ammunition were stolen from Industrias Tecnos (Aguila Ammunition) – a Mexican-based manufacturer of ammunition for small arms. The company, which is based in the city of Cuernavaca, had two tractor-trailers stolen while they were in the Guanajuato which contained a total of 7,114,150 rounds of various types of ammunition. The theft was reported on June 10th, 2021 and at the time of writing, there is no current indication that the trailers have been found.
With over 7 million rounds of live ammunition stolen, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) has opened up an investigation to try and track down the vehicles and trailers. The license plates of all vehicles are known and the Mexican government has requested that images and data of the stolen boxes be disseminated in the hopes of reacquiring the stolen items. As reported by Regeneration the following types and amounts of ammunition were stolen:
- 4 million 872 thousand high speed .22 caliber Long Rifle (LR) cartridges.
- 1 million 230 thousand cartridges .22 caliber LR high speed PH
- 295 thousand .40 caliber S&W cartridges
- 215 thousand .22 caliber cartridges LR super hummingbird
- 117 thousand .45 caliber automatic cartridges
- 100 thousand cartridges .38 caliber special jacketed
- 99,000 M 7 1/2 high speed .410 caliber cartridges
- 87 thousand cartridges caliber 7.62 × 51 mm 150 GN
- 71 mil 500 caliber .12 minishell post
- 25 thousand cartridges caliber .38 super auto + P
- 3 thousand caliber 12 minishell slug cartridges
A prosecutor from the Attorney General’s Office has stated that “all the corporations” in the city of Guanajuato are on alert. Apparently, the tractor and trailer were stolen while on Federal highway 57 and heading towards the United States – two men were able to steal the tractor-trailer alone. The Guanajuato prosecutor had this to say about the incident:
I think that all, absolutely all of us are affected by the fact that 7 million cartridges are in the wrong hands, because that represents a serious risk, not only for Guanajuato society, but for any citizen who finds those cartridges in the hands of crime
With an already overstressed ammunition market on our hands, the theft of over 7 million rounds is a serious blow not only to Aguila Ammunition but to the firearms community at large. A good portion of that ammunition was 22LR and I know rimfire enthusiasts everywhere will no doubt be upset that several more million cartridges won’t be making it to the market. Perhaps given the situation in Mexico, Aguila should consider arming or better protecting their shipments of ammunition in the future