Vasquez was born in Mexico but raised his family in Dallas, where he ran a moving company with his three adult sons. 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. Of theguns used in crimes in Mexico and traced back to the United States, about 41% camefrom Texas, he said. 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. In 2018, the homicide rate in Mexico hit a record high of 35,964, spiking 12 percent from the year before, according to the countrys National Institute of Statistics and Geography. In May 2008, Mexican federal police raided a suspected trafficker house in Culiacan, a long-standing drug hotbed in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. "We have adequate laws on the books. The Chicago study proved guns used in crime were often at least 11 years old and had passed through many hands making it impossible to trace them to the person that used them in a crime. No way the Democrats would support increasing the numbers of guns in the world. Theres a little bit of The Dude in a lot of Jeff Bridges performances. Do it.' But as the government attempts to stem the flow of drugs across the US border - it is these military-grade guns which are being smuggled in the other direction. not mexican. Moodys says these cities may see prices drop up to 10%. How about we lock up a guy who sold the cartels weapons used to kill people including Brian Terry. NUEVO LAREDO, MexicoOn March 24 . The perfect moment to strike, of course! Guns are funneled into the closest or easiest crossing into Mexico and they come from other states with lax laws. 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. Whats so hard to understand about that? 2- Declare Antifa a domestic terror organization. Criminal organizations operating in Tamaulipas, Guerrero, and Jalisco were the most armed in the country, at least in the last year. (PS, you may want to arm your Civilians so they can fight the cartel) The bridge connectsEagle Pass, Texas, to the Northern Mexicocity of Piedras Negras in the state of Coahuila. Gunmen battled on a beach near Puerto Morelos as tourists scrambled into a Hyatt . A gold plated pistol and jewelry, allegedly seized from Manuel Alquisires Garcia, aka "El Meme," sit on display during his presentation to the press of in Mexico City, Monday Sept. 12, 2011. This article would have you believe the American guns are coming from civilian sources.. one point left out of the article is that the cartels also like American hand grenades. John Boch, you said: We know theyre being illegally trafficked through California into Tijuana.. Gun Companies The lawsuit over drug cartel violence could be part of a bigger change on guns. American guns are ok, and many of the gun companies from the above countries have some US manufacturing. Of those murders, at least 20,005 were carried out with guns. Did you feel they enjoyed their purchasing experience? South Korean-made grenades have been. In Michoacn, the global powerhouse Crtel Jalisco Nueva Generacin, or CJNG, has been engaged in a long and deadly battle with Sinaloa and other rival cartels. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., pressed Garland regarding the opioid epidemic, highlighting that fentanyl is responsible for more deaths than guns and car accidents. Damn Democrat Pipeline! In 2019, a record 68 such weapons were captured. 3. 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. 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. SHARE AK-47 favorite gun of cartels 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. According to my cousin who lived in Mexico City, for many years, the cops have a city day job, and a cartel night job. Then, basic questions: Did you feel they knew what they were buying? 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. Till then, fuck you! He was badly wounded, while two bodyguards and an innocent bystander were killed. Snowfall is my favorite show centered around drugs - EVER. Into Mexico.. Our own government is gifting military weapons to Mexico & those arms are being used by the cartels. 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. 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 . If not, they should be left alone. Mexico suffered more than 40,000 fatal shootings in 2018, according to public briefings by Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard. We'll sell those guys so many guns they drown in them!" It weighs around 30 pounds and costs as much as a damn car. Its a very symbolic weapon in the narco world and for the narco esthetic, Grandmaison said. And that region continues struggling with. 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. "It's a horrible epidemic, but it . In Mexico, the weapon has disrupted the balance of power between criminal groupsand poorly equippedpoliceforces, according to Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, Program Director at the Mexico and Central America Office of Noria, a think tank. The problem isnt cartels sneaking (civilian) guns from the U.S. Gold-plated, diamond-encrusted weapons are shown to the press after they were confiscated when the army seized a ranch in Zapopan, Mexico, Sunday, May 2, 2010. Miguel Diaz Calderon never made it out of Texas. A gold-plated AK-47 rifle seized to alleged leader of "The Resistance" drugs cartel, Ramiro Pozos Gonzalez, aka "El Molca", is presented to the press in Mexico City, on September 12, 2012. On the Shelf. Body armour and load-bearing equipment were used by many cartel members, including examples marked 'Marina' (Marines) or 'Polica Estatal' (State Police). The majority of U.S. states allow citizens to buy .50-caliber weapons, something Mexico reserves for its military. June 23, 2022, 4:35 PM. Some are Russian, some Cuban made. Did they buy ammo? MEXICAN drug cartels are using high-powered sniper rifles which fire bullets the size of cigars to take down police helicopters. The English actor found the good side of being bad, Bad news that cult recovery group just might be a cult. 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. https://tucson.com/news/national/mexican-drug-cartels-using-grenades/article_9bafe2d8-ecf2-5925-8e85-167e066dd2e9.html. Andrea Waguespack is a features digital producer for the Houston Chronicle. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out another How To Solve The Country's Gun Problem, and watch other videos you won't see on the site! Within the next 45 minutes to an hour, they would come in. Between 2009 and 2020, authorities seized 358 M82rifles, according to official figures cited by the Milenio newspaper. Cant have all those firearms in the USA, so lets pipeline them to Mexico. Thousands evacuated in North Korea as heavy rain destroys Canadian teacher with size-Z prosthetic breasts placed on paid leave, What's next for Buster Murdaugh after dad's murder conviction, life sentence, Buster Murdaugh got 'very drunk' with dad 2 months after mom, brother murdered: source, Tom Sandoval, Raquel Leviss planned to tell Ariana Madix about affair, Prince Harry says hes not a victim: I never looked for sympathy, Allison Holker pens touching note to kids after Stephen tWitch Boss death, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant allegedly flashes gun at a strip club, Kellyanne Conway and George Conway to divorce. It fires the same round as the AK-47 but is significantly shorter and easier to conceal. An estimated 20 attorneys, many based in Texas, are expected to unite to represent Mexico,including six companies they blame for the bulk of recovered crime guns there:Smith & Wesson, Beretta, Century Arms, Colt, Glockand Ruger. In fact, according to Newsweek, cartel criminals view American guns as status symbols because, well, they work. And, lucky for them, America had a surplus of Barretts, because "fuck yeah.". Maybe, he'll see this and send a thank you card. From 2006 to 2013, the program expanded until it exploded into the stupidly named "Fast And Furious" scandal. Drug cartels have the flashiest of weapons in their arsenal. ", The Barrett is a rifle with almost no practical criminal uses. "He never saw those guns," his attorney told The Courier Journal. But, one boy was a white boy who told me he had served. 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. Holder and Obama spoiled the Mexican Cartels by sending them all those quality US made weapons while they ran the show in Washington. It is also one of the weapons of choice fordrugcartels, according to theMexicangovernment, which this week filed a lawsuit in theUS District Court in Massachusetts against the company and 10 other gun manufacturers. Are insane ticket costs pricing Astros fans out of Opening Day? The drug bust was a multi-agency effort involving the. 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.". The 5,114 figure is simply wrong. See I figured they were big fans of German guns, going back to that huge illegal arms contract HK won for the cartels awhile back. Worried that weapons purchases for drug cartels might fuel more calls for tougher U.S. gun control laws, gun-rights advocates insist that existing laws are sufficient to control such trafficking. Further investigation revealed that from Jan. 21, 2020 to July 11, 2022, Hernandez had purchased 231 handguns 9mm's, .380's and .22's which officials suspect he smuggled into Mexico. 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. 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. Tijuanas Director of Public Safety, Marco Antonio Sotomayor, says most of the guns flowing into his city come from north of the border. AP/Eduardo Verdugo. We were placing special orders with Barrett because we couldn't keep up demand. In fact these Paperwork-Americans are even more American than us evil racists! From the finest gems, to gold-plated weapons, law enforcement officials say these accused drug dealers have a passion for flashy things. If the laws actually worked, wouldnt Arizona, New Mexico, or Texas be the easier route? Alfred Guzman and Ivan Guzman are the sons of Joaqun (El Chapo) Guzmn Loera better known as the infamous kingpin of the Sinaloa cartel, which is North America's post powerful, and feared, organization trafficking drugs and laundering money worldwide. Yes, it was stressful but, at the same time, you knew what you had to do, and you did it and tried not to spook him, or whatever.". A 9mm browning pistol has the diamond encrusted initials of LMJ. For thecartels, the M82 has also become a status symbol. In the past, Jalisco has obtained squad machine guns, .50-caliber sniper rifles and 40mm grenades and launchers. Theyre American-made guns, Sotomayor told the Union-Tribune. 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? Weapons such as the M82 are part of a torrent of illegal arms flowing south, Mexico alleges, partly due to the manufacturers negligent business practices that had encouraged illegal arms trafficking. If someone is breaking the law, go after them. Bullet holes are seen after a battle between the CJNG and Los Viagras cartels in Aguililla. When he entered office in 2006, Caldern immediately moved on the cartels. Also, follow us on Facebook, and we'll follow you forever. Why havent you established large numbers of military personnel inspecting every truck, train, cargo ship, private boat and aircraft entering the country? And yes the California shooter did have a vetted gun but the point being made is that without uniform vetting laws funneling second hand guns into Mexico is a piece of cake. Obama supplied guns to mexican gangs, and were also used in Paris France terrorist attack. Get the best of Cracked sent directly to your inbox! They also discoveredmore than 10,000 rounds of ammunition hidden in an ice chest in the gas tankand inside the spare tire,court records show. "It's hard to pinpoint exactly where we think a particular load (of guns) we seized was going,"Lestrange said. 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. So, you would come in, say hello, shoot the shit, ask him about his kid. "I was working in a very large gun store in Phoenix at the time, and we sold everything. 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. ", Spencer Platt/Getty Images News/Getty Images, "Once the ATF was more involved, we had a separate set of paperwork. https://www.judicialwatch.org/corruption-chronicles/law-enforcement-sources-gun-used-paris-terrorist-attacks-came-phoenix/. I'm a projects reporter, examining key education topics and other local issues. It all started in 2017, when Norma Llamas Rodriguez, 47,. 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. But in all honesty the article above does not tell the whole truth about illegal guns in Mexico or South America as drug gangs also get guns from international arms traffickers as well, especially factory made full auto weapons. A Hearst Newspapers survey of 1,600 guns purchased mostly in Texas and Arizona which were either shipped to Mexico or intercepted en route shows the Bushmaster .223 AR-15 ranks second among firearms apparently used in drug warfare.