Mexican Officials Report Cartels Acquiring High-Powered US Military Weapons, Rocket Launchers
The Mexican government is accusing the United States of allowing military-grade weapons to fall into the hands of criminal cartels. They are calling on the United States to urgently investigate the matter.
In addition to civilian-grade firearms crossing the U.S. southern border, the Mexican military has also found weapons not typically available in the U.S. civilian market, such as belt-fed machine guns, rocket launchers, and grenades.
“The [Mexican] Defense Department has warned the United States about weapons entering Mexico that are for the exclusive use of the U.S. army,” said Mexico’s Foreign Relations Secretary Alicia Bárcena. “It is very urgent that an investigation into this be carried out.”
In June, the Mexican military reported seizing 221 fully automatic weapons, 56 grenade launchers, and a dozen rocket launchers from drug cartels since the end of 2018.
This revelation has raised alarm within the Mexican government, as its military and law enforcement have struggled to overpower and suppress the cartels. The cartels have demonstrated resourcefulness by creating homemade armored vehicles, developing improvised explosive devices, and using drones to drop explosives on their enemies.
Armed Resistance to Mexican Authorities
An operation to arrest Ovidio Guzmán López, the son of convicted Sinaloa drug cartel kingpin Joaquín Archivaldo “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, turned into a pitched battle throughout the streets of Culiacán last year when cartel members contested the arrest with a heavily armed response.
Mexican Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said the cartel gunmen opened fire on the Mexican military troops and law enforcement officers with half a dozen .50-caliber machine guns during the arrest operation. Mr. Sandoval said the Mexican army was forced to call in Black Hawk helicopters to target over two dozen cartel vehicles, including trucks mounted with gun platforms. Mr. Sandoval said cartel fighters still managed to force down two of the military helicopters with “a significant number of impacts” to both aircraft.
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Ken Salazar, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, confirmed Mexican officials had discussed the issue with him. Mr. Salazar said he was previously unaware of the problem but pledged to address the concerns of Mexican counterparts.
In a press statement, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller announced that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Mexican counterpart, Ms. Bárcena, had discussed “bilateral efforts to counter human smuggling and arms trafficking” during their meeting last week.
NTD News reached out to the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Department of Defense for more details about the Mexican government’s allegations but received no response by press time.
Concerns about military-grade weapons entering the hands of cartels from the United States come as the Mexican government is suing civilian firearms manufacturers for enabling firearms trafficking.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
