Soldiers seize grenades at Reynosa-Pharr bridge

REYNOSA — The Mexican military seized more than a dozen machine guns, thousands of rounds of ammunition and a score of grenades during two incidents this week.

The first occurred Monday south of the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, where soldiers inspecting a vehicle discovered 20 grenades concealed in foam sponges, according to a Mexican defense ministry statement.

Soldiers arrested 21-year-old Roberto Gaspar Caballero of Reynosa.

The military turned over Gaspar, the grenades and vehicle to the local police in Reynosa, according to the statement.

In a separate incident, soldiers seized more than 136,000 rounds of ammunition, more than 9,400 bullet magazines, 20 firearms and a grenade inside an abandoned house here Tuesday morning.

Soldiers in a motorized cavalry unit were patrolling the southwest side of the city along Calle Acción Común in Colonia Unidad y Efuerzo about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday when they came upon an abandoned house with the front door open and lights on, according to a statement from the Mexican Secretary of National Security.

Inside the house, soldiers found several firearms, including AR-15 and AK-47 rifles and six 9 mm pistols.

Soldiers also seized more than 136,000 rounds of ammunition, 9,400 bullet magazines and one hand grenade.

Suspected drug cartels’ ability to purchase grenades has become a concern for federal law enforcement in the United States.

The Mexican government told the Associated Press that 1,600 grenades were seized in Mexico last year, a 170 percent increase from 594 in 2007. At least 950 grenades have been recovered across Mexico this year.

A grenade tossed into Pharr’s El Booty Lounge in January was linked to the same cache of weapons in an October 2008 used on the U.S. Consulate in Monterrey. Both grenades failed to explode — during the Pharr incident, the assailant failed to pull a second safety clasp.

“It’s one thing to shoot someone — that’s a very violent act. But to throw a grenade into a crowded bar or a crowded restaurant, that's a different type of criminal you are dealing with, a different mindset,” Bill Newell, special agent in charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Arizona and New Mexico, told the Associated Press.

In the two incidents, Mexican soldiers found:

> Six AR-15 rifles

> Four AK-47 rifles

> One .30-caliber rifle

> One M1 .30-caliber rifle

> Six 9 mm pistols

> Two .308-caliber rifles

> 21 grenades

> 136,357 assorted bullets

> 9,404 assorted bullet magazines

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Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.