Turks and Caicos Is Arresting American Tourists After Finding Ammo Inside Their Luggage

American tourists have been getting arrested in the Caribbean country of Turks and Caicos as of late and all of them have seemingly been arrested for having ammo in their luggage. The latest is a 30-year-old Virginia man who was just arrested there last weekend.

According to CBS News, Turks and Caicos officials took him under custody after they allegedly found two bullets in his backpack while trying to board a cruise ship. It was noted that being in possession of a gun or even ammunition is banned in the Caribbean country.

It used to be that tourists who were found with either a gun or ammo were just fined some money and let go. Things changed last February when a court ruled that even tourists who were caught with these items should go to jail. Since then, several Americans have found themselves in a similar predicament as Wenrich.

"I feel like, as a very honest mistake, that 12 years is absurd," said his wife, Jeriann Wenrich. Her husband now faces the potential of a mandatory minimum prison sentence, which is up to 12 years. "My son's only 18 months old, and I just don't want to him to grow up without a dad."

Four US citizens have also been arrested already, with some of them pleading guilty to possessing ammo in their luggage. However, some of them have told the media that they checked their belongings many times before leaving and found no ammo, yet they were still caught in possession of one.

"I opened it up and kind of give it a little shimmy, didn't see anything, didn't hear anything," one of the arrested Americans, Ryan Watson, said in an interview with CBS News.

US TSA Did Not Find Ammo Inside Luggage of American Tourists Arrested in Turks and Caicos

As for the US government, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agrees with some of these US citizens who were arrested in Turks and Caicos. In particular, the TSA noted that it did not detect any bullets inside the bag of Oklahoma man Ryan Watson when he flew from the Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma to Turks and Caicos.

Ryan Watson of Oklahoma and Bryan Hagerich of Pennsylvania are currently awaiting their court hearings in the Caribbean country but were surprised when they received an outpouring of support, according to NBC 10 Boston.

US State Department Warning Gun Owners About Traveling to Turks and Caicos After Ammo Incidents

After a series of arrests on the main island of Grand Turk, the US State Department issued a statement for gun owners in the US about traveling to the Caribbean country of Turks and Caicos, according to CBS News.

Turks and Caicos authorities "strictly enforce all firearms-and-ammunition-related laws," the US State Department said in the statement. "Declaring a weapon in your luggage with an airline carrier does not grant permission to bring the weapon into the Turks and Caicos Islands and will result in your arrest."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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