Washington, Jan 8 (IANS/EFE) Osiel Cardenas Jr., the son of one of the most powerful Mexican drug lords, was placed in provisional detention in Texas this week when he attempted to smuggle 480 rounds for a varmint rifle into Mexico.
The suspect, known as "Mini Osiel", told a federal judge in Brownsville, Texas, that the ammunition seized by Homeland Security agents Dec 31 was his, court documents obtained by Efe news agency said.
Border Patrol agents arrested Cardenas after he declared that he was not transporting money, weapons or ammunition in the Cadillac Escalade SUV he was driving through the border crossing in Brownsville.
Agents ordered him to stop for an inspection and when they frisked him they found 14.2 gm of marijuana hidden in his underwear.
Cardenas, who court documents say has US citizenship, was carrying 290 9 mm rounds and 161 .223 mm rounds for varmint and semi-automatic weapons.
Border Patrol agents also found 29 7.62 mm rounds, two magazines for .223-calibre weapons and "additional tactical equipment" inside the car, the documents said.
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Cardenas was charged with violations of US laws on importing and exporting firearms since he did not obtain a State Department licence to transport the ammunition.
The suspect appeared of his own volition before a federal judge and testified in Spanish without asking for legal counsel, the documents said.
Cardenas's father is Osiel Cardenas Guillen, the former leader of the Gulf drug cartel.
The Gulf cartel, one of Mexico's oldest drug trafficking organisations, was founded by Juan Nepomuceno Guerra in the 1970s and was later led by Juan Garcia Abrego, who was arrested in 1996 and extradited to the US.
Cardenas Guillen took over the cartel's leadership in July 1999, but he was arrested in 2003.
He continued running the Gulf cartel, one of the most violent criminal organisations in Mexico, until his extradition to the US Jan 20, 2007.
--IANS/EFE
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