The issue of the shotgun came up near the border.
“I told him that we probably shouldn’t take the shotgun with us,” McDonough said. “And he said, ‘No, I’m going to get it cleared with customs at the gate.’ So I said, ‘That’s fine. As long as it’s legit.’ ”
The Customs and Border Protection agent said it was all right to take the shotgun, McDonough said, adding that the agent told them: “ ‘All you have to do is register it.’ So they gave us a piece of paper and said, ‘This is your registration. You’ve got to pay this much.’ They gave us the piece of paper to give to the Mexican authorities.”
As soon as the Winnebago lumbered over the bridge and they handed over the form to Mexican agents, trouble began. The two spent several days in custody, separated from each other. Mexican authorities eventually freed McDonough, perhaps because of his Argentine residency, and he walked back to Brownsville.
On Aug. 18, Mexican prosecutors leveled serious charges against Hammar. Curiously, it wasn’t the type of shotgun that broke Mexican law. It was the length of the barrel, which the formal citation said was shorter than 25 inches, although a discrepancy has emerged over how the barrel was measured.
“It’s a glorified BB gun,” Olivia Hammar said.
Indeed, Mexico’s criminal groups routinely wield AK-47 and AR-15 assault rifles, high-powered .50-caliber sniper rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and other potent weaponry. If Hammar had any intention of causing mayhem, using his great-grandfather’s proud firearm would have been like Daniel Boone and his muzzle-loading Tick-Licker fighting a modern U.S. Marine.
Back in April, the Dallas truck driver, Jabin Bogan, carrying 25,000 pounds of ammunition in his 18-wheeler, said he got lost in El Paso en route to a delivery in Phoenix. When he lurched to a stop at the Mexican border, asking to turn around, a Customs and Border Protection agent told him it was impossible. He was told to enter Mexico and make a U-turn. He had no passport and couldn’t speak Spanish.
The ammunition was openly displayed on nine pallets in the truck, most of it of a caliber unsuitable for the AK-47 and AR-15 rifles favored by Mexico’s cartels.
Mexican prosecutors charged him with crimes that could have brought more than 25 years in prison.
“My son was not trying to deliver no drugs or no guns to nobody,” Bogan’s mother, Aletha Smith, told an ABC-TV affiliate in Texas.
Through pressure from members of the U.S. Congress, Bogan was freed Nov. 23, and he returned to a tearful reunion in Dallas with his family.
While his ordeal was difficult, Hammar’s has been worse.
Once Hammar was sent to a state prison in Matamoros, mixed in with the general inmate population, late-night phone calls began to his parents in Palmetto Bay, Fla.
“They said, ‘I have your son. We need money.’ I said, ‘I’m going to call the (U.S.) consulate.’ They said, ‘The consulate can’t help you.’ Then they put him on the phone. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/12/06/176603/latest-hell-for-ex-us-marine-chained.html#storylink=cpy?storylink=addthis
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With Mexico Being A Humane Country How Did This Happen Ex-u.s. Marine: Chained To Bed In Mexican Jail?
Posted on December 9, 2012.
I find it difficult to believe that this hasn’t been all over the news.
Another reason to never set foot in Mexico.
Your question includes a word I’ve not heard about Mexico- “humane.” Of course, if you think of the US policy, “humane” might not be the first word, either. However, your rhetorical question is- How can Mexico be humane and treat a Marine like this?
He brought a firearm into Mexico. The facts surrounding this event are subject to interpretation and political spin. A small, .410 gauge shotgun is not a “glorified BB gun.” It’s a real firearm. That it’s an older weapon is irrelevant- it’s a firearm.
Taking a firearm into Mexico, given the common knowledge that Mexico’s drug cartels bring firearms from the US, seems a very unwise decision. Sure, this peace-loving guy only wanted to get away from everything. But a reasonable person would hesitate to bring a firearm to Mexico. (His friend tried to discourage him; he didn’t listen.) Jon’s next mistake was to accept the CBP officer’s statement: “Registering” the shotgun (probably on a Form 4455) meant he could bring it back into the US without duty. I have a hard time believing any CBP officer would assure him that it would be fine to import into Mexico.
One thing the Mexican officials do on a regular basis is to notify the US Consulate General of any arrests made in their jurisdiction. The article did not mention any conversations Jon has had with the Consular Officer. Very frequently, the US Consulate intercedes on behalf of US citizens who have violated Mexican law. There is no reason to believe that the Mexican authorities did not contact the US Consulate, nor that Hammar’s friend, when he walked back, did not inform CBP of his friend’s detention.
Is it a bad thing to spend time in Mexican custody? Yep. Should you be careful about insisting on bringing a firearm into Mexico? For sure. Does Hammar’s fate indicate that taking chances with firearms in Mexico can lead to regret. Uh huh. Now that he’s in deep trouble, maybe the Mexican authorities will cut him a break. Maybe they won’t. Compared to what would happen to him in the US for a similar violation, will his sentence be harsh? Probably. I hope his Marine friends contact enough politicians so that lots of emails go north and south over the border, and he gets out somehow. Maybe he’ll get bail, so he can skip. Don’t know what the evidence will be at a trial, but the Borderland Beat article, heavy on sympathy, is light on ameliorating facts. Not a happy story at all. … Take care!
you act like there hasn’t been one story after another about weapons of all sorts being smuggled into Mexico from the US. of course, in both these stories, this was done openly, more or less. so, they could have easily just sent them back across the border. but Mexican justice has always been rather iffy at best. for Americans, other foreigners and Mexicans as well.