Texas, California and Arizona Are Key Transit Hubs for Illegal Rifles Destined for Mexico

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – From what was seized in the decade from 2010 to 2020, the Mexican Army identified that at least 70% of the smuggled rifles were manufactured in the US and 30% in Europe after going through a distributor in Mexico’s neighbor to the north. The above, according to a report from La Jornada on the route of these war tools.

The national media detailed the correlation between weapons and the increase in intentional homicides, since of the 34,582 victims registered at the end of 2019, 70% were due to impacts from rifles and pistols.

Between 2010 and 2018, over three hundred .50 caliber rifles were seized in Tamaulipas and 53 in Sinaloa. But from January 1, 2019 to January 21, 2020, the Ministry of National Defense seized 71 rifles of this type: 48 in Tamaulipas; nine in Michoacán; five in Sonora; and two in Sinaloa.

This rifle is considered as the most powerful in the world. Bullets bore through armored structures and even cement and it’s capable of shooting down aircraft.

According to data from the national media, 41% of the 200,000 weapons that arrive in Mexico do so through Texas; 19% come from California; and 15% from Arizona, all border states. Most are rifles and semi-automatic pistols.

In four states that border the north of Mexico, there are 9,811 armories with an offer to supply potential drug cartels. Texas has 5,000 stores where submachine guns can be acquired, especially in Houston.

Of the 15 million weapons circulating in Mexico, 85% were acquired illegally, as reported by the Federal Security Secretariat when it was headed by Alfonso Durazo.

According to official data, 7 out of 10 weapons seized in Mexico come from the United States, where the market to acquire them is relatively simple, due to the few restrictions, as if it were an everyday item. In that country, the right to own a firearm is guaranteed by its Constitution.

In turn, a considerable amounts of European arms end up in the hands of cartels. Between 2010 and September 2019, at least 1,925 Beretta from Italy; 1,365 Rorman from Romania; 700 Glock from Austria; 130 FN Herstal of manufacturing in Belgium; and 57 Heckler & Koch from Germany, were found at crime scenes in Mexico, according to documents from Stop Us Arms.

From 2006 to 2018, Mexican authorities acquired about 238,000 firearms from Europe and Israel, according to the investigation “Deadly Trade: How European and Israeli arms exports are accelerating violence in Mexico”, published by the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH) last December.