http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexi ... gents.html

border agents may face charges over taking ammo into Mexico

By Sandra Dibble
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
May 5, 2005

A Mexican federal judge has until Saturday to decide whether two U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Friday at the Mexicali border crossing will be charged with illegally importing nearly 1,300 rounds of ammunition into Mexico.

The agents, German Verdugo and David Allen Navarro, are assigned to the El Centro sector, which covers Riverside and Imperial counties. The Mexican federal attorney general's office wants the pair to stand trial on charges of possessing and crossing the border with ammunition designated for exclusive use by the Mexican military.

Both men remained behind bars at the Mexicali jail yesterday.

The agents were off duty and in a private vehicle when they crossed from Calexico to Mexicali late Friday. Although they came across in a lane for drivers with nothing to declare, they were pulled aside for a random inspection.

Mexican agents found 1,286 rounds of .40-caliber hollow-point ammunition in the back seat of their 2004 Lincoln Navigator. They also found 10 .223-caliber Winchester rifle cartridges, the statement said. The Border Patrol assigns both kinds of ammunition to its agents.

The U.S. agency has not taken administrative action against the pair, said Danielle Suarez, spokeswoman for the El Centro sector.

"We're going to wait until the final outcome from the Mexican judicial system," Suarez said. "We're fully cooperating with Mexican authorities."