Mexico is calling for an investigation into how US military grade weapons ended up in cartel hands

These are not weapons that are mistaken as military grade by anti-gun proponents in the U.S. These are actual weapons that the U.S. military has used in the past. The Mexican army has previously seized fully automatic machine guns, grenade launchers, as well as rocket launchers. Although the Mexican military still has more firepower than the cartels, the latter have gained a firepower advantage over some Mexican law enforcement outfits.

From The Associated Press:

The military-grade U.S. weaponry — which cartels have bragged about and openly displayed on social media — poses a special challenge for Mexico’s army, which along with police and the National Guard already faces cartels operating homemade armored vehicles and bomb-dropping drones.

In June, Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said five rocket launchers had been found in the possession of the Jalisco New Generation cartel, four were seized from the rival Sinaloa cartel and three more seized from other cartels. Sandoval did not specifically say the weapons were from U.S. military stockpiles.

Ken Salazar, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, confirmed Monday that Mexican officials had brought up the issue at meetings last week, and while he had not been aware of the problem, he pledged the United States would look into it.

“We are going to look into it, we are committed to working with Sedena (Mexico’s Defense Department) to see what’s going on,” Salazar said.

There are a number of possible routes by which the weapons may have made their way to Mexico. Central America was awash with U.S. weaponry during the conflicts of the 1980s, military grade weapons sometimes go missing from stocks in the United States, and some manufacturers who sell arms to the U.S. military might also have sold some abroad or on the black market.

The Associated Press has additional information here.

Category: Crime, Military issues