US truck driver misses exit, faces 35 years in Mexican jail

A Dallas-based truck driver is in prison in Mexico and facing a possible 35-year sentence because he missed his exit and had no way of turning around without crossing the border.

Jabin Bogan was making deliveries in El Paso before heading on to Arizona when he missed his exit and found himself stuck on the highway leading into Mexico. This is an easy and common mistake to make on the confusing highways of the El Paso area, but it can be a costly one, as Bogan has discovered.

Near the border he says he “asked a cop” how to turn around and was told he would have to continue on a couple of miles to an exit. The details of that part of the story are murky, as U.S. authorities say they have no record of a truck driver making such an inquiry of border agents. They say that had Bogan asked at the U.S. checkpoint, they would have stopped traffic to allow him to make a U-turn on the highway. Instead Bogan crossed the border and was stopped by Mexican authorities who searched the truck and found over a quarter of a million rounds of rifle ammunition.

Headlines in Mexico and the U.S. announced the largest detection and seizure of illegal ammunition in recent memory and strongly suggested that the shipment was destined for Mexican drug cartels. That assertion was quickly denied by both Bogan’s boss and the ammunition dealer in Phoenix, who had paid $100,000 for the shipment.

Dennis Mekenye, operations manager for Demco Freight, says the truck was equipped with a GPS tracker and when he saw it was in Mexico, he called Bogan’s cell phone. The driver told him about the missed exit and that Mexican authorities were searching the truck. Shortly thereafter, Bogan was arrested.

Read more at WND HERE.