Agents launched 534 investigations, seized $29 million and intercepted more than 1,200 guns, 4,700 magazines for semi-automatic and automatic weapons and 700,000 rounds of ammunition headed to. CJNG members posted a video that went viral on social media in July2020 showing off their arsenal of tanks and .50-caliber guns. We've received your submission. WASHINGTON Convicted gun smuggler John Phillip Hernandez of Houston was likely not the kind of customer that Bushmaster Firearms International had in mind when he purchased 14 of the company's .223 caliber AR-15s at Houston area gun shops in 2006 and 2007. For more insider perspectives, check out 5 Insane Things I Learned About Drugs As An Undercover Agent and 6 Ways Life In Cartel-Run Mexico Is Nothing Like You Imagine. I hear Chinese AK-74 types a. The Hearst survey parallel the findings of a Violence Policy Center report from 2009 documenting 21 gun-trafficking court cases involving 1,700 weapons funneled to Mexico, as well as a federal law enforcement report this year, based on 2,921 guns recovered in Mexico and traced to original U.S. purchases between December 2006 and November 2010. California, by contrast, accounted for 90 guns, three percent of the total. Gun Companies The lawsuit over drug cartel violence could be part of a bigger change on guns. A spokeswoman for Bushmaster did not respond to repeated calls for comment. Colt Super .38 pistol: Colt, based in West Hartford, Conn., is the corporate legacy of Samuel Colt, who popularized the revolver in the years before the Civil War. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers with an Anti-Terrorism Contraband Enforcement Team were screening traffic headed out of Laredo on the Lincoln-Juarez Bridge in October when they noticed a bundle under the carriage of Vasquez's SUV, secured with black ties. ", After a couple weeks of escalating sketchiness, they reported the straw purchasers to the ATF, who immediately showed up to shut this shit d-, Sean Rayford/Getty Images News/Getty Images, Nope! 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The Bureau Of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), despite sounding like the most fun bureau in history, generally frowns on that kind of thing. Every once in a while, a dolt drops a gem. Since joining the Tulsa World in 1999, I have been a three-time winner of Oklahoma's top award for investigative . Among Mexican traffickers, it has earned itself the nickname "cuerno de chivo" or "goat horn" because of its distinctive banana-shaped magazine. is on the streets after a gun battle between Mexican security forces and suspected cartel gunmen, in Villa Union, Mexico . ", The cartels were smart enough to pick buyers who wouldn't instantly set off alarm bells (aka clean-cut and often white). Cartels often use drug profits to pay Americans to buy weaponsfor them at retail stores andgun shows, called straw purchases. The 5,114 figure is simply wrong. The flow of high-caliber arms smuggled across the porous U.S. border has alarmed Mexican officials and few weapons are as powerful as the U.S.-made M82 semi-automatic rifle increasingly favored by . American and Mexican law enforcement officials say nearly all of the gun violence in Mexico is fueled by the illicit import and sale of U.S. firearms. Meanwhile, the Mexican government blames prominent U.S. gun manufacturers for the influx of cartel weaponsin its lawsuit against them in federal court in Boston. Whats so hard to understand about that? Try again Jethro your out of your league. MEXICO: Stop the flow of Immigrants going north and maybe we will do something about guns going south across the border. The place is called La Leche and it continues to be one of Vallarta's tourist attractions. AP/Eduardo Verdugo. He claimed he didn't know the names of the gun buyers or their cartel affiliations. Of course, thats not primary the message Newsweek and the mainstream media (not to mention Mexican officials) want readers to take away from their report. "Their goal is the bulk purchase of maximum firepower.". If not, they should be left alone. Soldiers stand guard around a presentation of arms captured in an operation against the Gulf cartel in Mexico City, Friday, Nov. 7, 2008. Its all too easy to legally ship a batch of guns to a South American Corrupt Government that just happens to have some come up missing and they get sold to drug cartels for big bucks. It's made it easier than ever to drive to any Texas gun shop and legally stockpile guns, whether or not the customers belong to a Mexican cartel. While they had been gun-running since 2006, a 2011 report by the inspector general criticized the agency for dedicating too many resources to busting straw purchasers and not enough at busting the cartel guys doing the buying. To lose that many military, cops, politicians and citizens murdered by gangsters is phenomenal. They only wanted a couple of us dealing with it fill out this form, have the money counted, so we can bring drug dogs in to check the bills for drugs. Between 2009 and 2020, authorities seized 358 M82rifles, according to official figures cited by the Milenio newspaper. Say hello to our favorite little Al Pacino movie: The Brian De Palma classic from the '80s that has cemented Tony Montana, his little machine gun friend, and Michelle Pfeiffer's stunning slip dresses in cinema history. Are insane ticket costs pricing Astros fans out of Opening Day? Mayor: HISD has two optionsclose school or be taken over, Rare photos show 2 ocelots crossing South Texas road, Willie Nelson pays lovely tribute to another country legend. Sept. 7, 2010 -- A shocking new report obtained by ABC News says that as many as three out of four guns used in crimes in Mexico and recovered and capable of being traced can be traced to gun . It is not clear if Century Arms imported the Draco in that case. More than 40 people have been charged in the Upstate of South Carolina as part of a drug-trafficking case known as "Las Seoritas," according to Attorney General Alan Wilson . Cartel forces seized a major regional capital city in broad daylight and defeated the national armed forces in open battle. It depicts one cartel member dressed in a garish shirt, cowboy hat and belt buckle. Thirty-four. Given the record number of murders there last year almost 36,000 Mexicans could certainly use some self-defense tools. "We were being told, 'Oh, we're tracking their phones, we've got their license plates,' but it just kept happening. Known as "El Mencho," he commands the 5,000 member CJNG, nowas powerful as the Sinaloa Cartel but less known. Build the wall, Mexico. What i believe is that If i want to sale you ballons ,i give you a good price nd you will greatly say my ballons are the best .. quoteTijuanas Director of Public Safety, Marco Antonio Sotomayor, says most of the guns flowing into his city come from north of the border.quote. It was going on all over the city -- we knew we weren't the only store -- you've got plenty of evidence, you know where they live. Get the best of Cracked sent directly to your inbox! quoteClown shoes.quote. Mexican officials want to disarm America so the can finally claim Texas again and spread there filth into the lungs and veins of every Godless heathen that exists :). No way the Democrats would support increasing the numbers of guns in the world. It is also one of the weapons of choice for drug cartels, according to the. In the world of assault-type weaponry, power is measured by bullet caliber, velocity and range, as well rapidity of fire and ammunition magazine capacity. "I was working in a very large gun store in Phoenix at the time, and we sold everything. An arrogant armed American Gringo. NUEVO LAREDO, MexicoOn March 24 . Also, follow us on Facebook, and we'll follow you forever. Mexican Drug Cartels Agree: American-Made Guns Are the Best, Mexican drug and crime cartels prefer American-made guns. Explain again how the two assists are not in prison for supplying weapons to know criminals that used the weapons to kill US citizens. Theres no way for people to buy guns like these in Mexico. What Newell said quite clearly is that . Guns and munitions confiscated from alleged Mexican drug dealers Alberto Sanchez Hinojosa aka "El Tony", Francisco Arteaga Espino and Leonel Cruz Hernandez are displayed to the press in Mexico City on September 7, 2008, after they were detained in Villahermosa, Tabasco state. So, thats bad, thats a horror. Robert Evans just wrote a book, A Brief History of Vice, where he experiments with strange ancient drugs. I came here to say this. That leaves the military as the only ones able to battle thecartels.. There, members oftheGulf Cartel and CJNGhave formed a partnership, Jones said. A Washington man drove to a U.S. border crossing last year in his teal Ford pickup truck loadedwith a hidden arsenal bound for a Mexican cartel war zone. Hundreds of firearms on display before being destroyed at . Shut your pie hole Holder. Last week, the Treasury sanctioned two Mexican businessmen and four Sinaloa Cartel members in connection with the illicit methamphetamine and fentanyl trade. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives contends the most popular are the FN-57 pistol, once nicknamed the cop-killer for the ammo it could fire; the AR type 223 rifle and the. Frankly, Im rather impressed you are still standing at all. Mexican security personnel eventually turned him over to cartel gunmen after the arrest prompted a raging gun battle with extremely heavily armed fighters, including some with American-made . Agreed. None of this is rocket science and all the slick lies and smoke and mirrors Barn Brain attempts to use only discredit anything else he panders to an unsuspecting right wing crowd eager to hear preaching from a Messiah to the choir of the uneducated. Really, who? Theyre American-made guns, Sotomayor told the Union-Tribune. We had four or five come in that first guy came in five or six times, saying he was starting a collection. A close reading of the motion referenced above suggests that the deal with the Sinaloa drug gang may have included shipments of guns to the cartel to be used to thin out the ranks of rival drug . In any case, "the trace itself doesn't tell you anything,"' said Lawrence Keane, general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the Newtown, Conn.-based firearms industry trade group. Pass a domestic terrorism bill.. Gunmen who left behind at least one M82riflewere seen spraying the armor-plated car ofpolicechief Omar Garcia Harfuch with high-velocity rounds. Into Mexico.. Our own government is gifting military weapons to Mexico & those arms are being used by the cartels. "As a result of the continued use and possession of many of these guns, residents of Mexico will continue to be killed and injured by these guns, and the public will continue to fear for their health, safety, and welfare," Americanattorneys wrote in the suit on behalf of Mexico. Total dead including common citizens, murdered politicians and cartel members was at 115,000 estimated for 2006 thru 2018. Maybe if the border was more of an obstacle], Theres no way for people to buy guns like these in Mexico. Of course, these same quoted Mexican officials made no mention of changing their own to laws to allow the little people to own some cold steel with which they could protect themselves and their families from corrupt federales and cartel predators. . Vasquez was born in Mexico but raised his family in Dallas, where he ran a moving company with his three adult sons. Called a "technical" by US military.) For thecartels, the M82 has also become a status symbol. Yes Colt and Smith at one time made some very nice revolvers I will give them that but our rifles have been a joke for years. Of those murders, at least 20,005 were carried out with guns. [and I wonder what fraction of those murders were carried out at the behest of federal authorities by their cartel buddiesthe same Federales that prohibit citizens from arming up to defend themselves against the cartels.]. weapons to Mexico. Well, crap. Also FN57 pistols but, the Barretts were the big one. "We have adequate laws on the books. According to prosecutors, the weapons are believed to belong to the Valencia gang, allies of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel, and most of the 31 pistols found in the raid had gold or silver-plated grips or glittered with diamonds. Never heard of Obama? In addition to weapons from the States working better, Mexico cartels view firearms as status symbols, retired DEA agent Jack Riley told The San Diego Union-Tribune: It is really important to these criminal organizations, who stay in business by the threat of violence and through the use of violence; and the tools that they prefer to do that with are American-made guns.. What ARE you waiting on? Within the next 45 minutes to an hour, they would come in. ReporterKarolSurez contributed to this story. In 2019, a record 68 such weapons were captured. Ban assault weapons, high capacity magazines, body armor, silencers. According to my cousin who lived in Mexico City, for many years, the cops have a city day job, and a cartel night job. Because they could be doing a hell of a lot more to fight smuggling into the country and to protect their own good guy guns from being stolen. Sorry not in todays world American guns have some of the shittyist workmanship that I have ever seen compared to the U.S. guns that were made in the distant past and even those were often nothing when compared to finely made European guns. The cartel can trace its roots to the 1960s and '70s, when farming families entered the marijuana business. MEXICO CITY, Aug 6 The flow of high-caliber arms smuggled across the porousUS border has alarmedMexicanofficials and few weapons are as powerful as theUS-made M82 semi-automaticrifleincreasingly favored by the powerfuldrugcartels. Email us here. Cracked is up for TWO Webby Awards, for Best Humor Site and Best Video Entertainment! A straw purchase is when someone buys a gun legally, but then hands it over illegally to another person. The underground trade of weapons to Mexico is worth hundreds of millions of dollars annuallywith American guns used to kill tens of thousands of Mexicans each year. Or perhaps Newsweek went out of print before the Fast and Furious story broke. Military-style weaponry has enabled the drug trafficking organizations to match and sometimes overwhelm the firepower of Mexican law enforcement. Or is it because the CA border is not a barrier to trafficking contraband? We might have chalked him up as just another Call Of Duty fan with impulse problems, but our source considered this a "red flag" for straw purchasing. El Mencho:Daughter of Mexican cartel boss sentenced to US prison for violation of Kingpin Act. Man, how awful am I gonna feel if one of these guys gets plugged with a weapon I sold? I tend to like Belgian, Swiss, German, Austrian, and Italian guns. The main character, Franklin is brilliant. After his arrest, Diaz told agents with Homeland Security Investigations he was paid $5,000 upfront to smuggle "fierros," Spanish for "iron," which he understood to be guns,across the border. blames CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel for the bulk of America's illicit fentanyl, U.S. Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Top ATF officials have said in congressional testimony that 90 percent of the guns submitted for tracing by Mexican authorities are from the United States. Dear Mexico: clean up your own house before telling us how to take care of ours.. filed a lawsuit in theUS District Court in Massachusetts against the company and 10 other gun manufacturers. RELATED:Documents allege Texas DPS spying on Mexico. Then, basic questions: Did you feel they knew what they were buying? And follow Robert on Twitter. ", Spencer Platt/Getty Images News/Getty Images, "Once the ATF was more involved, we had a separate set of paperwork. Evening roundup with our editors' favorite stories of the day . Operation Without a Trace works in sync with efforts by ATF, which targetsstraw purchasers, and the DEA, whose agents piece together conspiracy cases by identifying drug networks and their links to specific cartels. Only if your definition of a thing is existing in quiet obsolescence. The weapons are sold to the cartels, often for three or four times the original price. https://www.judicialwatch.org/corruption-chronicles/law-enforcement-sources-gun-used-paris-terrorist-attacks-came-phoenix/. Just look at the numbers for their drug war: Sorry, man -- at least 150 Mexican civilians have been hurt or killed by weapons the ATF let enter Mexico. How about we lock up a guy who sold the cartels weapons used to kill people including Brian Terry. Officers found all of those brands, except Century Arms,in the shipments smuggled by Diaz, court records show. I think thats pretty fair. Officers foundthree rifles, eight pistols, several magazines and more than 4,700 rounds, including a bag of bullets under Vasquez's seat and more ammunition wrapped in tape and plastic and tucked inside a hidden compartment between the exterior and interior paneling. Bullet holes are seen after a battle between the CJNG and Los Viagras cartels in Aguililla. Mexican military forces confiscated 71 armor-piercing 50-caliber gunsin the year ending January 2020, according to the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Mexico. Well short answer. I mean all the enforcement is on the American side, very little exists on the Mexican side. Theyre American-made guns, Sotomayor told the Union-Tribune. They have special loopholes that allow them to form their own government or something like that. Working together across 18 different countries over the course of 10 months, the consortium investigated the global networks of Mexican drug cartels and their political connections around the world. The "El Presidente" model is popular in Mexico because it is one of the few guns legally available there, according to the Violence Policy Center. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. The survey drawn from guns identified by manufacturer or importer in U.S. court documents from 44 cases involving 165 defendants in Texas, Arizona and three other states shows the purveyors of guns to Mexican drug traffickers followed a time-honored maxim of product salesmanship: Bigger is definitely better. Newsweek, the defunct print magazine, reports that Mexican drug and crime cartels prefer American-made guns to use against their rivals and innocent Mexican civilians. But, who gave the arms to the Mexican cartels? (Hollie McKay/Fox News) Moreover, a total of 28,741 recovered weapons . They are still covering for the Obama administration. Id gut all weapons law and send any politician that suggest a new gun law to GitMo with a mandatory minimum sentence of life. Even though CDN is a rival of CJNG, its members accept payments to allowdrugs or guns to passthrough their territory. Mexican and U.S. authorities arrested Guzman in February; he had eluded authorities for decades. Miguel Diaz Calderon never made it out of Texas. So CA is itself one of those neighboring States that is (cough) responsible for illegal firearms/use across a boundry? Its a weapon of war, added the official. And four years ago, two sons of El Chapo Guzmn were kidnapped in another restaurant 500 meters from where they shot the former governor two days ago. Cant have all those firearms in the USA, so lets pipeline them to Mexico. Based in northwest Mexico's Sinaloa state, the Sinaloa Cartel is widely considered to be the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the Western Hemisphere, according to Insight Crime. Maybe, he'll see this and send a thank you card. Did that law get repealed or expire? Agents launched 534investigations, seized $29 million and intercepted more than 1,200 guns,4,700 magazines for semi-automatic and automatic weaponsand 700,000 rounds of ammunition headed to Mexico, Lestrange told The Courier Journalthis month. ", The Barrett is a rifle with almost no practical criminal uses. CJNG is based in Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city, in the state of Jalisco. Officials in Mexicowhich has just one gun store and issues fewer than 50 gun permits ayearblame lax U.S. gun laws and the prevalence of gun shops in Americafor the bulk of weapons that allow cartels to flourish. Meanwhile, check out this picture of a gun cache from El Chapo's hide-out: That's a Barrett .50 caliber rifle, confirmed to have gotten to Mexico via the ATF's gun-running program. Serial numbers really do tell a story. Blood Gun Money: How America Arms Gangs and Cartels. "You put on a face, like any customer service job, and you try to build a rapport with these guys. As of 2018 you have lost 395 servicemen killed and 137 missing, presumed killed by over 100,000 cartel fighters. All Rights Reserved, Fed raises interest rates by 0.5%, the highest rise since 2000, Here are the 14 inductees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. A handgun covered with gold and money sized to alleged financial agent of the drug "Cartel del Golfo", Manuel Alquisires Garcia, aka "El Meme" and also know as Agustin Sanchez Morua, are shown during his presentation to the press on September 12, 2011 in Mexico City. Eighty-seven percent of traceable firearms seized by the Mexican government have been traced back to the U.S. We've inadvertently "gifted" Mexico with more than 64,000 firearms over the last five years. Workers repair the facade of City Hall riddled with bullet holes in Villa Union, Mexico, in December 2019, after a gun battle between a heavily armed drug cartel assault group and security forces. Its compactness makes it easy to conceal and some versions can hold a 30-round magazine, made of lightweight polymer. Yes, Mexico has some house cleaning of their own to do, but it would help a great deal if the U.S. had much tighter gun control and drug enforcement. This is how the cartels get the vast majority of their arsenal. He pulls a paper bag out, takes out 10 grand in cash rubber-banded in thousand dollar increments. So, the ATF was like, "We'll show you! At one point, it was probably four to five of these rifles a week. All of the straw buyers were arrested in one fell swoop in 2011. The indigenous people of Mexico do arm themselves and fight the government. One of the most dangerous pockets of Mexico City: Teptio, the primary-black market area, under the thumb of the Union Cartel. An Italian-made 9mm pistol that is a best-seller among U.S. law enforcement agencies. We had a bunch of light machine guns, like an M249 SAW what caught me off guard is that he and I shot the crap about that one day. If American made guns are somehow responsible for all this killing by the evil people using them, why do you allow them to enter your country so easily? Guns are funneled into the closest or easiest crossing into Mexico and they come from other states with lax laws. The state, about a five-hour drive west of Mexico City,is known for its production of avocados. So, you would come in, say hello, shoot the shit, ask him about his kid. By the way, where were these officials when the Obama administration was running guns into Mexico as part of Operation Fast and Furious? Once in the hands of cartel capos, however, the modern sporting rifle becomes very much an assault weapon. It weighs around 30 pounds and costs as much as a damn car. 12 of 29 13 of 29 Guns and munitions confiscated from alleged Mexican drug dealers . It is also the native land ofruthless Mexican cartel bossRubn Oseguera Cervantes,a top U.S. target with a $10 million reward for information on his whereabouts. Modern optics, including AimPoint types and the distinctive Vism ECO 434 model were seen. Typically, the purchaser turns the guns over to a broker who takes them across the border to Mexico, where such weapons cannot be bought legally. Barn Brain also conveniently ignores the fact that there are gunsmiths in the U.S. and Mexico that regularly convert semi-auto American made guns to full auto as well and yes they are second hand guns not vetted that come from the U.S. Why was President Biden talking about Utahs 2002 Winter Games at the White House? So Ive just one question for you. The perfect moment to strike, of course! Since the federal law banning assault weapons expired in 2004, so-called "straw purchasers" have flooded U.S. gun stores in the Southwest, mostly in Texas and Arizona, sweeping up these and other weapons. I'm like, 'makes sense, he's a military kid.' The drug bust was a multi-agency effort involving the. Mexican cartels exploiting border chaos to smuggle fentanyl into US By Isabel Vincent June 10, 2022 3:53pm Updated Mexican drug cartels are taking advantage of the chaotic influx of migrants. But then, he broke out the huge bag of cash. In fact, according to Newsweek, cartel criminals view American guns as status symbols because, well, they work. Some suspects won't talk after their arrests and othersadmit smuggling guns but claim they don't know the names of the buyers or the cartel involved. Fast and Furious was a Department of Justice Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) "gunrunning" operation in which the Obama administration allowed guns to be sold to Mexican drug cartels in the hope the weapons would be recovered at crime scenes. We know theyre being illegally trafficked through California into Tijuana. I would take that way further. And that region continues struggling with. If you have a Barrett, it means that any non-special forces such as the localpoliceand the municipalpolicecannot fight you, Grandmaison said. I would be one of the richest people on the planet. Thousands upon thousands of firearms are smuggled into Mexico from the U.S. each year. I got a phone call one day on the shop line, and a guy was looking for a Barrett .50 cal, which is not a crazy weapon in terms of how available they are.". Never heard of Fast and Furious? The Mexican government estimates that more than half a million guns are smuggled from the U.S. each year, arming Mexico's deadly cartel wars. No secret, everyone knew it, too. Excuse the pun, but when are you gonna pull the trigger on this? Pass national weapons carry reciprocity with jail time and heavy fines for any government agent who violates any citizens carry rights. A row of glass cases are filled with seized weapons. How does the cartel feel about branded accessories? The majority of U.S. states allow citizens to buy .50-caliber weapons, something Mexico reserves for its military. Yet, none of that is relevant, history is often forgotten. You try and keep it as normal as possible; you don't want to spook him because then everything's shot as well. ", It was a good gig for a while. Why Mexico Is Right to Sue U.S. If our source's store had just followed their guts and refused to sell to the most obviously sketchy buyers, the world would've been a little bit safer.