Southwest
Oklahoma man praises God, US lawmakers in return home after ammo arrest in Turks and Caicos
An Oklahoma man credited his faith with helping his family get through a “concerning” situation in Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), where he faced 12 years in prison when four stray bullets were found in his luggage, he told “Fox and Friends” after returning home.
Ryan Watson, 40, from Edmond, was arrested in April at the country’s main airport and was detained after he accidentally left the ammunition inside his carry-on bag.
After months of negotiations, which involved a bipartisan congressional delegation flying to Turks and Caicos in May, Watson received a suspended 13-week jail sentence and a fine of $2,000 – or $500 per bullet – on Friday, according to family spokesman Jonathan Franks.
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Ryan Watson kisses his wife, Valerie Watson, outside of court in Turks and Caicos, Friday, June 21, 2024. The Oklahoma man who was facing 12 years in prison in Turks and Caicos after authorities found stray bullets in his luggage. (Jonathan Franks/LUCID Strategies)
Watson and his wife Valerie appeared on “Fox and Friends” Tuesday, when they praised their faith and local lawmakers for helping to get him home.
“Our faith is so strong, I don’t know if we would have made it through any other way,” Valerie said. “I mean the Lord definitely carried us through, and we saw him working in every single aspect, from the very beginning of this entire thing.”
The couple said Oklahoma Sens. Markwayne Mullin and James Lankford, along with Gov. Kevin Stitt, were instrumental in securing Ryan’s release and return.
“They all worked around the clock that very first weekend, and they didn’t stop until Ryan set foot back in Oklahoma,” Valerie said. “So they worked really hard for us. And, you know, Senator Mullin put together the congregational delegation and it was really effective. I think it put a lot of pressure on TCI to kind of rethink some of the ways that they were handling things down there on the island.”
Watson said he had taken the bag on a hunting trip to Texas last fall but does not recall ever putting the bullets in the bag. He said the bullets were found underneath a lining in his bag.
“I didn’t realize it, but that duffel bag has a lining, zips out, and they somehow managed to get underneath that lining,” Watson said. He did not have a gun on him and previously told Fox News Digital he had no intention of bringing ammunition on his vacation.
The island nation has strict rules and stiff penalties for those carrying ammunition. There is no constitutional right to carry firearms in Turks and Caicos, and the law prohibits anyone from keeping, carrying, discharging or using an unlicensed firearm or ammunition.
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Watson said it was frightening to think he was facing 12 years in prison.
“None of it made sense….. it got real concerning real quick,” he told “Fox and Friends.”
He also thanked his faith when speaking to reporters on Friday.
“This is such an answered prayer… I’ve prayed for this for 70 days now,” Watson said. “To see God working this way, it’s pretty incredible.”
Ryan told “Fox and Friends” Tuesday that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) later admitted it failed to spot the bullets on his way out of the U.S. Watson criticized the U.S. Embassy in Turks and Caicos and said that it did not help him.
From left to right, Valerie Watson stands next to her husband, Ryan Watson, who holds his passport as he poses with his mom, Susan Fendley, and stepfather, Terry Fendley, in Turks and Caicos on Friday, June 21, 2024. Ryan Watson was detained for possessing ammunition in the island nation. (Jonathan Franks/LUCID Strategies)
“They did nothing… and it really revealed to me that there are probably many other families that are affected abroad that are not receiving any aid or care from the State Department, as we speak.”
A State Department spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital that the State Department, as well as U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, make the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas their highest priority.
Whenever a U.S. citizen is detained in a foreign country, the State Department seeks immediate access to visit that person, the spokesperson said.
When a U.S. citizen is arrested overseas, the State Department stands ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance, the spokesperson said, adding that U.S. citizens are typically subject to a foreign country’s laws when they travel there, even if those laws differ from those in the U.S.
Due to privacy considerations, the State Department did not provide further comment on the Americans recently arrested in Turks and Caicos.
After the sentencing, the judge urged American travelers bound for Turks and Caicos to double-check their bags and asked the TSA to screen outgoing travelers.
Watson is one of at least five Americans arrested this year who were arrested for violating Turks and Caicos’ ammunition law.
The country’s parliament agreed unanimously this month to revise the new ordinance after “a great deal of flacking” from American lawmakers, the country’s Newsline TCI reported.
“This legislative change is a critical step in ensuring our legal system is both just and flexible,” the parliament’s opposition leader Edwin Astwood told The Sun TCI, another local paper. “It acknowledges that not all cases are alike and that our judges must have the ability to consider all factors and impose sentences that are truly just and appropriate.”
He said the goal is to uphold the rule of law — but also to differentiate between genuine threats and people who make a mistake.
Five Americans have been arrested in Turks and Caicos since February for carrying ammo in airports on the island. From left to right: Michael Lee Evans (no photo), Bryan Hagerich, Tyler Wenrich, Ryan Watson and Sharitta Grier. (Turks and Caicos Police/ Dimitrios Kambouris )
The other Americans charged under the ordinance include Bryan Hagerich, a 39-year-old Pennsylvania father of two and former professional baseball player, who came home after more than 100 days in jail after the court agreed to fine him $6,500 and avoid prison.
Texas’ Michael Lee Evans, 72, pleaded guilty to possessing seven rounds of ammunition, according to The Sun TCI. He was still awaiting sentencing but had been allowed to return to the U.S. due to a serious illness, according to authorities.
Virginia’s Tyler Wenrich was freed in May after paying a $10,000 fine. Sharitta Grier, of Florida, is also awaiting her sentencing.
Fox News’ Audrey Conklin and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
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Southwest
Arizona governor vetoes Charlie Kirk memorial license plate, sparking GOP outrage: ‘This bill falls short’
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Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is facing fierce backlash after vetoing a bill that would have created a specialty license plate honoring slain Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, a move Republicans are blasting as a stunning act of partisanship after his assassination.
Kirk, who was assassinated while speaking at a Sept. 10 Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University, lived in Arizona with his wife, Erika, and two children.
The proposed specialty plate, referred to as the “Charlie Kirk memorial” plate or the “Conservative grassroots network special plate,” featured a photo of the late Kirk and the TPUSA logo in front of an American flag background.
Below the license plate number were the words “FOR CHARLIE.”
A custom Arizona license plate, featuring a Turning Point USA and Charlie Kirk design, shared by state Sen. Jake Hoffman. (Senator Jake Hoffman via X)
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Of the $25 fee required for the plate, $17 would be an annual donation deposited into the Conservative Grassroots Network Special Plate Fund, according to the legislation.
While the recipient of the Grassroots Network Special Plate Fund was not explicitly designated as TPUSA in the bill, it noted the director of the fund would allocate revenue annually to a nonprofit organization, founded in 2012, that focuses on restoring traditional values, maintaining a grassroots activist network on high school and college campuses in Arizona, and assisting college students with voter registration and absentee ballots.
People gather at a memorial to mourn Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk outside Turning Point USA headquarters Sept. 12, 2025, in Phoenix. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
TPUSA, founded by Kirk in 2012, is well known for its grassroots activist networks on high school and college campuses. It is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.
The $25 fee and annual $17 donation are consistent with the fees for the other 109 nonprofit license plates offered by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT).
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The state Senate passed the bill, 16-2, with the House of Representatives voting 31-23 in favor prior to Hobbs’ veto.
Specialty plates in Arizona are authorized by the legislature and sent to the governor to be signed into law. They have been offered since 1989.
In a letter explaining the veto, Hobbs cited concerns with the bill “bring[ing] people together,” claiming it would “insert politics into a function of government that should remain nonpartisan.”
Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is facing fierce backlash after vetoing a bill that would have created a specialty license plate honoring slain Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
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“Charlie Kirk’s assassination is tragic and a horrifying act of violence,” Hobbs wrote. “In America, we resolve our political differences at the ballot box. No matter who it targets, political violence puts us all in harm’s way and damages our sacred democratic institutions.
“I will continue working toward solutions that bring people together, but this bill falls short of that standard.”
Specialty license plates with political interests already approved by the state include the “Choose Life” Plate, which benefits the Arizona Life Coalition and its mission to promote anti-abortion advocacy and education; the “In God We Trust” Plate, which benefits conservative Christian legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom; and the Arizona Realtors’ “Homes for All” Plate, which funds affordable housing projects.
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, speaks during the Turning Point Action conference in 2023 in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Lynne Sladky/AP Photo)
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Another approved plate, “Alice Cooper’s Solid Rock Plate,” which benefits Solid Rock Teen Centers, features a portrait of the legendary musician, who has made political comments about social issues including gender identity.
Republican state Sen. Jake Hoffman, who sponsored the bill, posted a fiery statement on social media after the governor’s action, claiming her “grotesque partisanship knows no bounds.”
“Even in the wake of a global civil rights leader — an Arizona resident and her own constituent — being assassinated in broad daylight for his defense of the First Amendment, Hobbs couldn’t find the human decency to put her far-Left extremism aside simply to allow those how wish to honor him to do so,” Hoffman wrote. “Katie Hobbs will forever be known as a stain on the pages of Arizona’s story.”
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On Saturday, TPUSA COO Tyler Bowyer shared an X post that said, “Deport Katie Hobbs.”
TPUSA, Bowyer and Hobbs’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
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Southwest
Air Force veteran warns ‘cartels don’t collapse — they fracture’ after notorious drug lord killed
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Nearly two weeks after Mexican forces killed notorious cartel boss Ruben “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, questions remain about how the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) will respond and whether the blow will meaningfully disrupt the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
Carlos De La Cruz, a 20-year U.S. Air Force veteran who deployed after 9/11 and later served along the southern border, told Fox News the cartel leader’s death marked a major victory, but warned Americans should not mistake it for the end of the fight.
“When I say that this is a significant win, I mean it,” De La Cruz said. “El Mencho ran one of the most violent cartels on the planet.”
Oseguera, who rose to prominence in the post–El Chapo era, oversaw CJNG’s aggressive expansion across Mexico and into key trafficking corridors feeding U.S. drug markets. Under his leadership, the cartel became a central architect of fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficking and drew a $15 million U.S. reward for information leading to his capture.
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Smoke rises from burning vehicles after a military operation that a government source said killed Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, known as “El Mencho,” in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Feb. 22, 2026. (Screen grab obtained from a social media video. @morelifediares via Instagram/YouTube via Reuters)
But De La Cruz cautioned that removing a cartel kingpin does not dismantle the organization.
“Cartels don’t collapse when you just cut the head off — they fracture,” he said. “And part of that fracture is going to see a lot of short-term violence while all these factions fight over territory.”
Following Oseguera’s killing on Feb. 22, the U.S. State Department issued travel alerts in multiple Mexican states, citing road blockages and criminal activity tied to security operations, underscoring concerns about instability in the aftermath.
Drawing on his military background studying enemy command structures, De La Cruz described the cartel fight as a long-term campaign requiring sustained pressure.
A mughsot of Ruben “Nemesio” Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” beside graffiti depicting the letters of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, covering the facade of an abandoned home in El Limoncito, in the Michoacan state of Mexico. (Eduardo Verdugo/AP Images; Drug Enforcement Administration)
“You don’t win a war with just one airstrike,” he said. “The goal is dismantling the networks and going after their financing.”
De La Cruz, who is running for Congress and is the brother of Texas Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz, argued that CJNG’s Foreign Terrorist Organization designation gives U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies expanded tools to target cartel infrastructure and financial pipelines.
KAROLINE LEAVITT WARNS CARTELS TO ‘NOT LAY A FINGER’ ON AMERICANS OR PAY ‘SEVERE CONSEQUENCES’
A soldier stands guard by a charred vehicle after it was set on fire in Cointzio, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the cartel leader’s death. (Armando Solis/AP Photo)
But he stressed that the fentanyl crisis should be viewed as a domestic security emergency, not a distant foreign problem.
“For decades, they were using their territories as launching pads to pump chemical weapons into America — because that’s exactly what fentanyl is,” he said.
De La Cruz, who said he worked side by side with Customs agents while deployed to the border, warned that cartel networks are highly adaptive and that any gains could be temporary without sustained follow-through.
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Smoke rises after violence hit Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. (Courtesy of Scott Posilkin)
“These networks, they’re going to adjust. They’re going to adapt and they’re going to adapt quickly,” he said. “We have to continue to go after the money launderers, especially on our side of the border, because that’s the full fight.”
While Oseguera’s death removes one of the most dominant figures in Mexico’s criminal underworld, De La Cruz said the mission is personal.
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“I took an oath to defend this country,” he said. “And I intend to stand by that oath.”
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
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TUCSON, Ariz. — More than five weeks after the suspected abduction of Nancy Guthrie — the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie — Arizona authorities say cadaver dogs used earlier in the investigation are not currently being deployed as the search continues.
The elder Guthrie is believed to have been kidnapped from her home in the Catalina Foothills in northern Tucson around 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 1.
While no suspects have been publicly identified, and she has not been found, cadaver dogs had been deployed earlier in the case, according to Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos. They have not been visible in weeks.
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A member of the Pima County Sheriff’s Office remains outside of Nancy Guthrie’s home, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil; Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
“They are available if needed in the future,” he told Fox News Digital.
There are a number of reasons not to be using cadaver dogs at this stage in the investigation, according to Betsy Brantner Smith, a retired police sergeant and spokeswoman for the National Police Association.
NANCY GUTHRIE’S NEIGHBORS FLAG CAMERA GLITCHING, EXPERTS EXPLAIN WI-FI JAMMING
Savannah Guthrie visits the Today show at Rockefeller Plaza in New York on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
One would be if there’s credible information that Guthrie is still alive.
“Anything is possible,” Nanos told Fox News Digital last week, adding that he would not discuss specific leads or evidence in the case.
DNA IS STILL PENDING AS VOLUNTEERS FIND ANOTHER GLOVE IN THE SEARCH FOR NANCY GUTHRIE
Brantner Smith, who is not involved in the case, said departments may hold back K-9 resources for several reasons. Those could be that authorities don’t have a good idea of where to search, they think she might be concealed in a place where dogs would have a hard time detecting her, or they believe she’s been taken to Mexico, according to Brantner Smith.
Law enforcement agents walk around the neighborhood where Annie Guthrie, whose mother Nancy Guthrie has been missing for more than a week, lives just outside Tucson, Ariz. (Ty ONeil/AP Photo)
“I do believe that the sheriff’s department has much more information that they are not releasing to the public,” she told Fox News Digital. “And I’m not sure at this point why that would be, unless they have a solid suspect and don’t want to tip them off.”
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Most departments, including the Pima County Sheriff’s, don’t have their own cadaver dogs and borrow them from state and federal authorities or neighboring jurisdictions.
An investigator looks inside a culvert in the neighborhood where Annie Guthrie, whose mother Nancy Guthrie has been missing for more than a week, lives just outside Tucson, Ariz., on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Ty ONeil/AP Photo)
In Guthrie’s case, the sheriff’s department sought K-9 assistance from the local Border Patrol office earlier in the investigation.
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PCSD deferred further comment on the K-9s to Customs and Border Protection, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A member of the Pima County Sheriff’s Office walks around Nancy Guthrie’s home on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz. (Ty ONeil/AP Photo)
The biggest lead so far has been Nest camera video showing a masked intruder on Guthrie’s doorstep the morning of her abduction.
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He is described as about 5 feet, 9 inches to 5 feet, 10 inches tall and of medium build.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, has been missing from her Arizona home since Jan. 31, 2026. (Don Arnold/WireImage/Getty Images)
He was wearing a black Ozark Trail backpack.
Authorities have said they won’t consider the case cold until they run out of viable leads to follow up on — and tens of thousands have come in so far.
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Savannah Guthrie has asked anyone with information to dial 1-800-CALL-FBI.
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There’s a combined reward of more than $1.2 million for information that leads to her mother’s recovery.
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