---
title: "More Than 7 Million Rounds of Ammo Bound for U.S. Were Stolen in Central Mexico"
description: "Ammunition that was bound for the U.S. has been stolen in Central Mexico. Officials think the stolen ammo, valued at $3M, was an inside job."
date: "2021-06-18"
modified: "2021-06-18"
authors:
  - name: "Bob McNally"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.outdoorlife.com/authors/bob-mcnally/"
url: "https://www.outdoorlife.com/guns/ammo-stolen-from-mexico/"
categories:
  - "Ammo"
  - "Guns"
---

# More Than 7 Million Rounds of Ammo Bound for U.S. Were Stolen in Central Mexico

![Stolen ammo in Central Mexico was valued at $3 million.](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/18/193093366_2857234241256879_4984343095259253440_n.jpg>)
*Millions of rounds of ammunition, bound for the U.S., were stolen in Mexico. Aguila Ammunition*

An armed heist on a road near the town of San Luis de la Paz, in Guanajuato, Mexico, resulted in the theft of over 7 million rounds of small caliber ammo from two truck trailers this month. The stolen ammo was bound for the U.S. when it was taken on June 8, reports [Business Insider](<https://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-on-alert-after-7-million-bullets-stolen-in-heist-2021-6?op=1>).

It might sound like an action flick, but officials suspect the theft may have been an inside job. No shots were fired, no one was injured, and the trucks, trailers, drivers, and security personnel were all accounted for and in good condition after the robbery.

Most of the ammo was .22 caliber, and sold in the U.S. under the Aguila brand. Early accounts of the robbery downplayed the significance of the theft because most of the stolen ammo were rimfire cartridges—not exactly the sort of ammunition that crime cartels covet.

Since then, however, the public has learned that ammunition for 14 different calibers were stolen. The [Yucatan Times](<https://www.theyucatantimes.com/2021/06/7-million-bullets-were-stolen-in-a-massive-heist-in-mexico/>) reported that while about 6 million rounds were .22s, thousands more rounds for other cartridges were seized. They included: 295,000 rounds of .40 caliber loads, 117,000 rounds of .45 caliber, 100,000 rounds of .38 Special, and 87,000 rounds of 7.62.

The ammunition was made in Cuernavaca, a city just south Mexico City. The shipment was bound for Texas when the robbery occurred in San Luis de la Paz, roughly 250 miles north of the factory in Cuernavaca. The town of has been caught up in in a bloody war between the Jalisco Cartel New Generation and the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel.

## Author
Bob McNally has been an outdoor writer since shortly after the earth’s crust cooled. He has written 12 outdoor books, more than 5,000 outdoor magazine stories (including many for Outdoor Life) and more newspaper outdoor columns and features than there are hairs on a grizzly bear.