US uses new law to penalize arms trafficking to Mexico

A new law imposing tougher penalties for arms trafficking is giving US prosecutors a powerful tool to combat the illicit flow of weapons from the United States to drug cartels in Mexico.

Cartels use guns to protect their drug smuggling operations, fueling an overdose epidemic that is claiming the lives of tens of thousands of Americans.

Justice Department officials say that in the year since President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law in June 2022, they have indicted more than 100 people under its third-party gun-purchasing and trafficking provisions.

The landmark legislation introduced the first major changes to US gun safety laws since the 1994 federal assault weapons ban. The law established a separate firearms trafficking conspiracy offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison. prison. It also penalizes false purchase, which involves buying a firearm for someone who is legally prohibited from buying a gun.

Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Wednesday that the Justice Department is using criminal authorities under the new law “to identify and hold accountable firearms traffickers.”

“The firearms trafficking provision has been particularly helpful on the Southwest border,” Monaco said at a Washington police event organized by the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF, for its acronym in English) to highlight the government’s efforts to combat illegal arms trafficking into Mexico.

He noted that more than half of all firearms trafficking cases have been brought by federal prosecutors in border states like Texas and Arizona.

In recent years, drug trafficking from Mexico to the US has received widespread public attention, but the influx of weapons moving in the opposite direction has not.

US and Mexican officials say the arms-trafficking problem is equally serious, with equally deadly consequences for people on both sides of the border.

“These weapons empower drug cartels to intimidate local communities, challenge state authority and expand their deadly drug trade back into the United States,” Monaco said.

It is not yet known for certain how many weapons are smuggled into Mexico, but the number is believed to be enormous. One estimate suggests that it could reach half a million weapons a year.

A recent ATF study found that nearly 70% of firearms recovered in Mexico between 2014 and 2018 and sent for tracing were linked to the United States. An estimate by the Mexican government puts it at 90%.

ATF Director Steven Dettelbach said the Mexican cartels are looking for high-powered military-grade weapons, not just any weapon. He cited the M134 mini pistol, which can fire up to 4,000 rounds per minute, as an example.

“Weapons like this present an extreme danger when they fall into the hands of criminals, a danger not only to the public but also to law enforcement on both sides of this border,” Dettelbach said.

While the southwestern states serve as the main source of arms smuggling into Mexico, the problem is not limited to that region, Dettelbach said. In March, two Cleveland, Ohio, men were arrested after selling nearly 100 guns to ATF agents posing as Mexican cartel members.

The influx of guns into Mexico is being driven in part by Mexico’s strict gun laws. There is only one military-run gun shop in the nation of more than 120 million people, and it reportedly issues around 50 permits a year.

As a result, the Mexican drug cartels source most of their weaponry, from handguns to military-style assault weapons, from the US, where they are readily available and can be bought by mules that smuggle them across the border. the experts say.

In 2021, the Mexican government filed a $10 billion lawsuit against US arms manufacturers, accusing them of facilitating arms trafficking to Mexican drug cartels and fueling violence in their country. A US judge dismissed the suit in September. Mexico is appealing.

The litigation is not directed at the US government, and US officials say that Mexican law enforcement authorities combat arms trafficking.

“Sometimes the perception that maybe Mexico is not in the fight is wrong,” said Ken Salazar, US ambassador to Mexico. “The reality is that they are in the fight with us.”

US officials attributed a series of recent arms-trafficking prosecutions to Mexican cooperation.

In March, Roberto Lugardo Moreno Jr. pleaded guilty to purchasing an AR-15 rifle for a Mexican drug cartel in connection with the notorious kidnapping and murder of US citizens earlier in the year. Monaco said the case was made possible thanks to Mexican cooperation.

In May, Mexican authorities arrested Michel Bacasegua-Barriga, the alleged leader of a prolific transnational firearms trafficking group based in Nogales, Sonora, after he was indicted in Arizona.

“These are just two examples of the outstanding work that US and Mexican law enforcement do every day to combat cartels, trafficking organizations and violent crime,” Monaco said.

Monaco and other officials highlighted gun seizures under a 3-year ATF-led initiative known as Operation South, which seeks to stem the flow of firearms into Mexico in coordination with Mexican authorities.

Between fiscal year 2021 and 2022, ATF firearms seizures with a Mexico nexus increased by 17%, while ATF trafficking investigations more than doubled, Dettelbach said.

From October 2022 to March 2023, nearly 2,000 firearms were seized under Operation South, an increase of 65% over the same period last year.

But this number is dwarfed by the huge influx of weapons into Mexico, and some experts say police operations alone are not enough to address the problem.

“There are no simple solutions to this problem, but one obvious policy is to adopt stricter gun control laws in the United States,” Jason Blazakis, director of the Center on Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, said during a recent House of Representatives hearing on transnational organizations.

“Simply put: the United States is arming the Mexican drug cartels and that must stop,” he said.

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