Smugglers Continue Flooding Mexico With Weapons Despite Chatter About Crackdown: 'No One Stops You Unless You Run a Red Light'

Smugglers continue managing to flood Mexico with weapons, the vast majority of which end up in the hands of cartels, despite authorities discussing attempts to crack down on the flows, according to a new report.

The New York Times noted that flows continue to surge, illustrating a sophisticated pipeline that ends with criminal organizations. Individual smugglers are managing to send hundreds of weapons south every week, with one 17-year old coordinating matters from his phone through encrypted messaging apps.

Smugglers increasingly use private groups on messaging apps and social media platforms to advertise and arrange sales, creating closed networks that are constantly refreshed to avoid detection. In some cases, traffickers have begun bribing gun store employees to falsify records or facilitate off-the-books transactions.

Smugglers who spoke to the outlet said moving the firearms across the border continues to be easy, with one saying "no one stops you unless you run a red light."

Interviews with seven operatives linked to the Sinaloa Cartel illustrate a supply chain that begins with legal gun purchases in the United States and ends with military-grade arsenals in Mexico. Weapons are frequently disassembled, hidden in vehicles or transported via air and sea routes to evade detection.

Estimates from Mexican authorities suggest that up to 500,000 firearms are smuggled annually from the United States into Mexico, though former agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives believe the number could reach one million. Despite the creation of a U.S. task force in 2020, only a fraction of these weapons have been intercepted, with just over 4,300 seized in the past 14 months.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has criticized the U.S. over the ease with which weapons are smuggled. She said earlier this month that if the U.S. wants to see a decrease in drug trafficking, it should stop the flow of weapons across the border. "They need to do their part so weapons stop being smuggled from the U.S. and into Mexico," she said during a trip to Sinaloa.

Another report detailed that cartels are also managing to get a hold of high-caliber ammunition from a plant set up in a facility owned by the U.S. government and manufactures rounds used by the military.

The facility in question is located outside Kansas City and also supplies ammunition to the retail market, where civilians can buy them as well. Such a scenario has allowed criminal organizations to get a hold of the rounds, used by the military to destroy vehicles and light aircraft.

The New York Times and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists shed light on agreements between the Army and private contractors, which have allowed the rounds to enter retail markets and end up in the hands of cartels.