Mystery surrounds Ohio man arrested in Mexico for possessing firearms

An American who was arrested in Mexico City driving a vehicle containing 6,000 rounds of ammunition and various firearms has been identified as 44-year old Stephen Charles Neylon from Ohio.

Neylon was arrested on Saturday in a neighborhood in central Mexico City and has been charged with carrying more than 6,000 rounds of different kinds of ammunition along with several firearms in the trunk of his black BMW sedan, two fuel containers and a crossbow with a scope.

Inside Neylon's car, which authorities also said had its license plate covered and was moving erratically through the city streets, police found plastic bags, backpacks and four cardboard boxes containing a 9 mm pistol, a 12-gauge Mosseberg shotgun, a scoped crossbow, two jugs with fuel and over 6,365 rounds for the 9 mm and 12 gauge firearms.

When speaking with police, Neylon admitted that he knew it was illegal to have the weapons in Mexico, but told local law enforcement that the guns and bow were for "hunting" purposes, The Yucatan Times reported.

A statement released by federal prosecutors said Neylon was sent to a prison in Veracruz to await trial.

When Fox News Latino contacted a Neylon family in Ohio, a man said a photo published in Mexican newspapers looked like his brother-in-law, though he had not heard about the arrest.

"I was blown away," Matt Lewis, the husband of Neylon's sister, Jennifer, told FNL. "He hasn't had contact with us for almost two years, ever since his mother passed away."

Fox News Latino has not been able to confirm whether it is the same person.

Lewis added that Neylon was close with his family before his mother's death in 2013, but soon after became estranged from them. Neylon lives in Akron, while the rest of his family resides in the Cleveland suburbs.

A search of employment history showed that a Stephen C. Neylon worked for Associated Materials, Inc., an Akron-based exterior building product company. Associated Materials did not return calls from Fox News Latino seeking comment.

The reason for Neylon's visit to Mexico is still unclear as neither Mexican officials nor the U.S embassy has released any information since his arrest and his transfer to the prison in Veracruz. Lewis added that his brother-in-law was not known to have any connection or contacts in Mexico.

"As far as I know he had never even been out of the country," Lewis said.

U.S. citizens have been arrested on similar charges in the past, but those cases typically occurred just on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Mexico allows private citizens to possess only small-caliber weapons and restricts all other arms to security forces.

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City said it was aware of reports of an American citizen being detained and was prepared to provide consular assistance, but declined further comment citing privacy concerns.