A lawsuit and an arms deal highlight Mexico’s messy relationship with US guns

• Mexico is suing US gunmakers, accusing them of facilitating arms trafficking and fueling violence in Mexico.
• Mexico is also pursuing a multimillion deal with a US-based company for rifles for its police and military forces.
• The efforts highlight Mexico's complicated relationship with US guns.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

Ciudad Juarez, MEXICO – Mexico's government recently sued some of the biggest US gunmakers and distributors, in an unprecedented effort to stop the flow of illegal firearms from the US.

But Mexican criminal organizations are finding new loopholes to sustain their ruthless war against each other and authorities, and the legal action comes as Mexico's government pursues a controversial deal to buy large quantities of guns and ammo from the same manufacturers.

The government's suit accuses some of the biggest US gun manufacturers of fueling the bloodshed between cartels in Mexico by facilitating illegal weapons trafficking.

"It was foreseeable to Defendants that choosing to recklessly and unlawfully distribute and market their guns, without monitoring or discipline, would harm the [Mexican] Government by facilitating the trafficking of guns into Mexico," the suit, filed on August 4, states.

The suit listed specific firearms used in the murder of journalists and recovered in Mexico, like the Colt .38 pistol used to kill Mexican reporter Miroslava Breach in 2017.

Ioan Grillo, journalist and author of "Blood, Gun, Money," said the lawsuit was a "solid strategy" even if it doesn't amount to serious action against gun smugglers.

"As a legal action it does bring this issue into a court, and it could get some concessions from some companies, but mostly it is forcing them to defend their position and their actions," he told Insider.

Although the legal action is seen by many in Mexico as a smart move to press US authorities and companies to act against weapons traffickers, the measure could mean nothing for cartel operations on the ground.

"What is it going to make [happen] to stop the arms trafficking? They would have to go against their own people. They are the ones buying and trafficking for us," a Mexican cartel operative who asked to remain anonymous told Insider, referring to American smugglers.

The operative said the cartel smuggles guns from the US through an "ant operation," with no more than four firearms trafficked at the same time. The guns, he explained, travel disassembled and hidden inside old furniture or appliances.

"It's not what people think, where big trucks are going south full of rifles or ammo. This is a much more simple and slow operation," the operative said.

The same day the Mexican government announced its legal action against US arms manufacturers, a 23-year-old woman from California was apprehended by Mexican authorities in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, while dropping off two .223-caliber rifles.

The woman said she was unemployed and was paid $800 to deliver the guns to an unknown man.

US citizens without jobs are often willing to take such work, the operative said. "We offer them from $600 to $800 just to deliver, on top of the overhead price they get from buying the guns and ammo."

Government complicity

In a joint attempt to tackle corruption that allows thousands of firearms to cross the border, the Mexican government in July gave the military administrative control of the country's land and maritime ports of entry.

While the Mexican government is battling illegal arms trafficking, it appears to be ignoring another source of weapons for cartels: Guns and ammo that are legally acquired for Mexican police forces but in many cases end up in the wrong hands.

In March 2015, the US State Department notified Congress of a Direct Commercial Sales license agreement for Sig Sauer to sell rifles and pistols to the Mexican military and federal and state police forces.

The license, with a value of up to $266 million, is valid until February 2024. The Mexican Navy is set to acquire $5.5 million worth of automatic rifles as part of this deal, according to Reuters.

Direct Commercial Sales agreements allow a government to acquire weapons or military-grade training from private companies. The deals are reviewed and approved by the US government.

In 2020, Mexico acquired more than $41 million worth of military equipment, including automatic weapons, guns larger than .50 caliber, ammunition, rockets, missiles, and explosives, according to the last report available from the State Department.

"The problem with this is that there is always an issue of Mexican security forces committing human-rights abuses and perpetrating massacres and of guns being sold, robbed, taken" or obtained in another way and ending in the hands of cartels, Grillo said.

The most common method involving security forces, Grillo added, is military members selling seized guns back to criminals.

"I personally spoke to a guy who was a soldier with the Mexican army, and he sold guns illegally, but [they] mostly were guns seized by the army or the police," Grillo said.