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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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US Gun Dealers Arm Mexican Drug Wars

Softer American laws lead to cross-border flood of weapons

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(Newser) – More than 6,000 Mexicans died in drug wars last year, and violence has surged recently as gangs battle the police and each other. But because of Mexico's strict gun laws, cartels have to get their weaponry from elsewhere: the United States. Ninety percent of guns recovered in Mexico originated north of the border, the New York Times reports—often from small dealers scattered along the border.

Mexican civilians need approval from the military to buy handguns, and high-powered rifles are illegal. The cartels enlist Americans to buy assault rifles from multiple dealers, then import them, often stuffed in the panels of cars. Arizona's attorney general compared the traffic to a "parade of ants." "It’s not any one big dealer, it’s lots of individuals," he said. "That makes it very hard to detect."

Two federal police officers carry a box with weapons seized from suspected members of a crime gang after presenting them to the press in Mexico City, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009.
Two federal police officers carry a box with weapons seized from suspected members of a crime gang after presenting them to the press in Mexico City, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009.   (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
Meza Lopez, the number 20th on the FBI most wanted list, allegedly helped a drug cartel dispose of hundreds of victims by dissolving them in acid.
Meza Lopez, the number 20th on the FBI most wanted list, allegedly helped a drug cartel dispose of hundreds of victims by dissolving them in acid.   (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias)
The Mexican Army collected 1,932 weapons, 70 grenades, and 2,131 cartridges turned in voluntarily by citizens as part of a campaign to remove weapons from the streets in Baja California State.
The Mexican Army collected 1,932 weapons, 70 grenades, and 2,131 cartridges turned in voluntarily by citizens as part of a campaign to remove weapons from the streets in Baja California State.   (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias)
Gunmen opened fire and hurled grenades at a patrol car in Pacific resort town of Zihuatanejo, killing four officers.
Gunmen opened fire and hurled grenades at a patrol car in Pacific resort town of Zihuatanejo, killing four officers.   (AP Photo/Felipe Salinas)
Drug cartels that have waged bloody turf battles across northern and western Mexico have now brought their fight to the outskirts of Mexico City.
Drug cartels that have waged bloody turf battles across northern and western Mexico have now brought their fight to the outskirts of Mexico City.   (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
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2 comments
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NutsInNY
Feb 26, 09 8:57 AM CST
American gun manufacturers and Mexican drug cartels: a marriage made in heaven. Or hell. Reply
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riffran
Feb 27, 09 1:37 AM CST
hell is more the apt description.....I wish there was an easy solution...eveerybody stop using illegal drugs??? aint happening....to few are smart enough to leave that stuff alone...stop making guns?...aint happening, they will get them from somewhere else, plus it infringes on the free enterprise, and rights to keep and bear arms.....It will probably have to escalate to such a point of atrocity that the "powers that be" have no choice but to actually get more than just aggressive, and make the cost of doing "bizzness" too prohibitive in money and lives...but I doubt that will happen either....not yet Reply
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