Kyle Busch says he “made a mistake” after being arrested by Mexican authorities over his possession of a handgun last month.
As first reported by Yahoo Sports earlier this week, the NASCAR champion was detained in Mexico in January after authorities discovered a handgun in his luggage.
In a press release, the Public Ministry of the Attorney General of the Republic in Quintana Roo announced a three-year, six-month prison conviction against an individual identified only as “Kyle.” The sentence is also said to have included a fine, with the individual having been found to have committed a crime by “carrying a firearm without a license.”
At the time of the initial detainment, Busch was boarding a private plane set to take him back to the States from the Cancun airport. The gun in question is described as a “pistol-type firearm” with hollow point cartridges.
“In late January, Samantha and I enjoyed a several day vacation in Mexico,” Busch said in a statement shared to Twitter on Monday. “When departing the country, my handgun was flagged during routine screening at the airport. I have a valid concealed carry permit from my local authority and adhere to all handgun laws, but I made a mistake by forgetting it was in my bag.”
Deeper into the statement, Busch claimed to not be aware of regional law, further claiming that he had “no intention of bringing a handgun into Mexico.” Elsewhere, he said that he and his family “consider this issue closed,” although it wasn’t immediately clear what that means for the reported conviction.
See Busch’s full statement below.
