Mexico is seeking to hold the United States responsible for rampant cartel violence by suing US-based gunmakers over illegal firearms trafficking as America’s southern neighbor is contending with drug smuggling and cartel-related violence.
The lawsuit filed in a Boston court is part of Mexico’s efforts to put the issue of cross-border weapons flows at the heart of the diplomatic conversation between the neighbors.
“Mexico is really managing to say that this is a bilateral problem,” said Cecilia Farfan, an expert on organized crime and US-Mexico security cooperation at the University of California, San Diego.
“In the same way that the United States is saying, ‘I need you to do something about illegal drug trafficking,’ Mexico is saying, ‘I need you to do something about guns,'” she said.
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The lawsuit names US gun-making companies including Smith & Wesson Brands, Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Beretta USA, Glock, and Colt’s Manufacturing Co.
The suit said the Mexican government took the action “to put an end to the massive damage that the [companies] cause by actively facilitating the unlawful trafficking of their guns to drug cartels and other criminals in Mexico.”
Between 70 and 90 percent of all weapons recovered from crime scenes in Mexico were smuggled in from the United States, Mexico’s foreign ministry says.
Mexico has accused major US gunmakers of firearms trafficking it blames for fueling cartel-related bloodshed.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for the damage caused by the firms’ alleged “negligent practices,” as well as the implementation of adequate standards to “monitor and discipline” arms dealers.
Mexico has seen more than 300,000 murders, most of them blamed on criminal gangs since the government of then-president Felipe Calderon deployed the military in the war on drugs in 2006.
Many weapons reach Mexico from the United States through small-scale shipments known as “ant trafficking.”
“They bring them either in parts or whole with contraband merchandise, clothes, and various items imported to Ciudad Juarez,” said Jorge Nava, a prosecutor in the border state of Chihuahua.
Mexico has seen increased inflows of partially assembled firearms known as “80 percent” guns that are finished in Mexico.
“It’s legal, and with it, you can build an army,” according to a person involved in arms trafficking for two decades.
The Mexico litigation has drawn anger in the United States, with US National Shooting Sports Foundation, the US firearm industry trade association, calling the lawsuit “an affront to US sovereignty.”
“Rather than seeking to scapegoat law-abiding American businesses, Mexican authorities must focus their efforts on bringing the cartels to justice,” the association said in a statement.
Arms traffickers, who operate in Mexico’s southern state of Oaxaca, agreed that the authorities in their country share responsibility.
“The Mexican authorities allow everything to enter from the United States without carefully checking it, without adequate controls, and also due to a lot of corruption in customs,” they said.
