Of course, thats not primary the message Newsweek and the mainstream media (not to mention Mexican officials) want readers to take away from their report. A large-scale drug investigation in the Valley led to the seizure of millions of fentanyl pills, thousands of pounds of meth and more. What ARE you waiting on? Was Operation Fast And Furious Really Part Of A Secret Deal - Forbes A row of glass cases are filled with seized weapons. 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. Its a very symbolic weapon in the narco world and for the narco esthetic, Grandmaison said. While we're busy patting ourselves on the back, you can pat too by voting here and here. 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. An NSSF survey last year found that 44 percent of owners of these weapons are active-duty or former military or law-enforcement personnel, and the typical owner is 35, married and has some college education. Its just to easy to buy up second hand guns and ship them to Mexico. A straw purchase is when someone buys a gun legally, but then hands it over illegally to another person. Vasquez was born in Mexico but raised his family in Dallas, where he ran a moving company with his three adult sons. But the weapons that Hernandez and his associates purchased ended up in the hands of Mexican drug cartel pistoleros, including the Bushmaster .223 that was later used to kill four police officers and three secretaries in Acapulco. It makes Americas 1930s Gangster Era a minor skirmish by comparison, and it has lasted much longer too. 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. Id gut all weapons law and send any politician that suggest a new gun law to GitMo with a mandatory minimum sentence of life. 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. "He never saw those guns," his attorney told The Courier Journal. How U.S. Guns Drive Cartel Violence in Mexico - The Trace Colt Super .38 pistol: Colt, based in West Hartford, Conn., is the corporate legacy of Samuel Colt, who popularized the revolver in the years before the Civil War. It is not clear if Century Arms imported the Draco in that case. Many interesting behind-the-scenes bits have happened during the 20 years of telling tales about our favorite trailer-park residents, Bobs never bought Christmas seals he told me he wouldnt know what to feed them, Below you, an entire other world operates. Sinaloa Cartel A Mexico-based cartel famous largely because their long-term leader, El Chapo, was recently captured and imprisoned, the dangerous Sinaloa Cartel is also notorious for its extensive ties to the Mexican federal police and military. The California Maniac could just as easily bought a second hand gun and instead of killing people with it could have made handsome profit by selling it and more like it to Mexico because he is not connected by paperwork to what he is selling. Never mind that the majority of the cartels armament needs are met by leaks of official weaponry bought by the Mexican military. 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. This is a carousel. Bullet holes are seen after a battle between the CJNG and Los Viagras cartels in Aguililla. You never cease to make an absolute fool of yourself. Pass a domestic terrorism bill.. Say hello to our favorite little Al Pacino movie: The Brian De Palma classic from the '80s that has cemented Tony Montana, his little machine gun friend, and Michelle Pfeiffer's stunning slip dresses in cinema history. In 2019, a record 68 such weapons were captured. And that region continues struggling with. Formed by ex-military men who became armed enforcers for the Gulf Cartel, the Zetas split with their former patrons nearly three years ago and have since become one of Mexico's largest and most . not mexican. These agencies team withthe U.S. Bureau of Alcohol,Tobacco, Firearms and Explosivesto investigate the financing, transportation, and communications methods of smuggling networks. We sat down with "James," who worked at one of the gun stores the ATF ordered to sell firearms to drug cartels. Given the record number of murders there last year almost 36,000 Mexicans could certainly use some self-defense tools. The Medellin cartel surged to power in the 1980s. It all started in 2017, when Norma Llamas Rodriguez, 47,. Then, he says, 'Oh, I've been interested in the Barrett.' U.S. agents also are helping train Mexican police on investigative techniques and evidence collection and improving intelligence sharing, Lestrange said. Sincerely, Oh NOW the ATF Thinks Running Guns to the Mexican Cartels is a Bad Idea The tribes in America are not allowed to do things like that, instead they have to follow 3 sets of laws, otherwise a lot of white Americans would move to the reservations for some liberty. The main character, Franklin is brilliant. California, by contrast, accounted for 90 guns, three percent of the total. PDF OPTIONS FOR U.S. AND MEXICAN POLICY-MAKERS - The Institute of Politics A Dallas man claimed he didn't knowassault rifles, pistols and ammunitionwere hidden in his silver SUV as he attempted to cross into Mexico from Laredo, Texas. Mexico has very strict restrictions on weapon. Whether it's the Juarez Cartel or Sinaloa's 'Chapo' Guzman, one thing the cartels in Mexico and South America have in common are flashy weapons. "But we also know most of the violence the Mexican government is concerned about against police and against institutions is coming from CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel" run by the notorious kingpin "El Chapo,"Lestrange said. ReporterKarolSurez contributed to this story. 6 Ugly Things I Learned Selling Guns To Drug Cartels. Bingeworthy Mafia and Drug Cartel TV Series - Really Into This Evening roundup with our editors' favorite stories of the day . A jeweler shows a gun butt made of gold, diamonds, emeralds and rubies to form the Mexican flag, for a 1911 pistol in Culiacan, Sinaloa state on July 12, 2011. An arrogant armed American Gringo. Pre-order it now! Central District of California | Indictment Names Six in Scheme to Diaz is one of 360 suspects arrested so far duringOperation Without a Trace, an ongoingcrackdown launched nearly two years ago by Homeland Security Investigationsand U.S. Customs and Border Protection to intercept illegal guns, saidJoseph Lestrange, division chief of Homeland Security's Transnational Organized Crime. Mexico: 18 bodies found after suspected drug cartel gun battle We had a bunch of light machine guns, like an M249 SAW what caught me off guard is that he and I shot the crap about that one day. Ban assault weapons, high capacity magazines, body armor, silencers. After paying the piso and traveling throughCoahuila, Diaz still wouldhave faced a 14-hour drive south toMichoacn. MEXICO: Stop the flow of Immigrants going north and maybe we will do something about guns going south across the border. He didn't know much about it beside the fact that he wanted it.". Now, he's militarized the country. CJNG members posted a video that went viral on social media in July2020 showing off their arsenal of tanks and .50-caliber guns. But, the ATF's "sell guns to cartels and then maybe try to catch them if we've got time" plan actually dates back to the Bush Administration. He campaigned on "Hugs, Not Bullets.". "Second Amendment Sanctuary" Texas Arms Mexican Drug Cartels How in the hell can any society withstand such incredible violence and not crumble? Once inside the U.S., Century Arms converts the rifles into military-style AK-47s capable of holding 30-round magazines. Scarface stars Pacino as the indelible gangster and charts his rise as a Cuban immigrant-turned-cocaine cartel captain . Between all the illegal guns and millions in gold, jewelry and diamonds, there are armed guards on constant watch. NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with Ioan Grillo about the illegal flow of guns from the U.S. to Mexico. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Video shows gunman nonchalantly shoot homeless man execution-style in broad daylight, NJ man tried to board plane with handguns, AR-15, Taser, phony US Marshal badge, Parolee flaunted ghost gun on social media before weapons arrest: feds, Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed can keep gun at home: judge. Agents launched 534 investigations, seized $29 million and intercepted more than 1,200 guns, 4,700 magazines for semi-automatic and automatic weapons and 700,000 rounds of ammunition headed to. Guns are funneled into the closest or easiest crossing into Mexico and they come from other states with lax laws. "The majority of weapons we've seized since we started this operation have been in the corridor by Laredo, Texas from Laredo to El Paso," he said. This is how the cartels get the vast majority of their arsenal. Since the federal law banning assault weapons expired in 2004, so-called "straw purchasers" have flooded U.S. gun stores in the Southwest, mostly in Texas and Arizona, sweeping up these and other weapons. In the absence of sane border security policies, Guerra said, drug cartels decide who crosses, and people in their organizations use the children to enter the U.S. In Mexico City, the military has a museum used to train officials, diplomats, and cadets about the war on drugs. Here's the Sick Tactic Cartels Are Using to Smuggle Members Into the 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. Just look at the numbers for their drug war: In 2016, members of the Knights Templar cartel in Michoacan state allegedly downed a helicopter with an M82rifle, theMexicanlawsuit said. And four years ago, two sons of El Chapo Guzmn were kidnapped in another restaurant 500 meters from where they shot the former governor two days ago. RELATED:Documents allege Texas DPS spying on Mexico. Distraction. We know theyre being illegally trafficked through California into Tijuana.. Same guys, different job. Not with all their progressive laws. Mexico remains a cautionary preview of what might happen in America if we adopted Mexican-style gun control.. Cartel gunmen armed with AK-47s purchased in Arizona overwhelmed the police, killing eight. Theres a little bit of The Dude in a lot of Jeff Bridges performances. Court documents show such purchasers buying as many as 20 AK-47s at a time, paying as much as $11,000 in cash. How could the ATF make selling firearms to the cartels a more pleasurable process? Diaz's attorney, Gregory Torres, declinedcomment. These firearms couldnt possibly coming through California. American firearms power a brutal conflict that has claimed more than 100,000 lives. After his arrest, Diaz told agents with Homeland Security Investigations he was paid $5,000 upfront to smuggle "fierros," Spanish for "iron," which he understood to be guns,across the border. Tell you what, you let me have what the Cartels are able to get from the Mexican Military and Ill let you have what I have now. Do it.' Smuggled guns used in cartel hits - CNN.com A recent report reveals 60 percent of all confiscated weapons in Mexico are seized in the three states of Tamaulipas, Guerrero, and Jalisco, with 7 out of 10 weapons confiscated coming from the United States. Meanwhile, check out this picture of a gun cache from El Chapo's hide-out: That's a Barrett .50 caliber rifle, confirmed to have gotten to Mexico via the ATF's gun-running program. "The brand names are inconsequential what matters is that our laws aren't being enforced," said Andrew Arulanandam, director of public affairs for the National Rifle Association. Homeland Security teamed with the ATF tolauncha confidential tip line asking for help from the public, displaying the number on about 200 billboards near the border,asking for information on illegal guns bound for Mexico. Shut your pie hole Holder. Some of the reasons so many guns come from Texas: people can cross the border on land or by theRio Grande River, and"in places like Houston and San Antonio, theres a gun store on every corner, said Will Glaspy, formerly in charge of DEA's Houston Division. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. Drug Cartels: 5 Most Powerful in the World | Desert Hope Known as CJNG, the billion-dollar cartel boasts of more than 5,000 members, an army larger than its key rival, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. 'They're culpable': the countries supplying the guns that kill Mexico's ", Yvonne Hemsey/Hulton Archive/Getty Images. Mexican Drug Cartels Agree: American-Made Guns Are the Best, Mexican drug and crime cartels prefer American-made guns. The article, titled, "The U.S. Must Defeat Mexico's Drug Cartels", . weapons to Mexico. Together the men funneled nearly 340 firearms valued at almost $370,000 to Mexican drug cartels. 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. As of 2018 you have lost 395 servicemen killed and 137 missing, presumed killed by over 100,000 cartel fighters. I think thats pretty fair. It's a more powerful version of the Beretta popularized in James Bond novels and films. Well short answer. LMFAO. 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. Even ballistic helmets were seen in use. This is another valid reason to vet second hand gun purchases because there often is no paper trail with second hand guns, especially guns that have been sold over and over again second hand. I would like to buy Holder and Obama for what they are worth, to sell them for what they THINK theyre worth. It got to the point where we would give the ATF our cellphone numbers. Cartels exploiting border chaos to smuggle fentanyl into US - New York Post Modern optics, including AimPoint types and the distinctive Vism ECO 434 model were seen. Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images News/Getty Images. Gunmen who left behind at least one M82riflewere seen spraying the armor-plated car ofpolicechief Omar Garcia Harfuch with high-velocity rounds. Some are Russian, some Cuban made. Guns and munitions confiscated to alleged Mexican drug dealers Alberto Sanchez Hinojosa aka "El Tony", Francisco Arteaga Espino and Leonel Cruz Hernandez are displayed to the press in Mexico City on September 7, 2008. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration blames CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel for the bulk of America's illicit fentanyl, the top killer during the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history. Somehow, gum made out of tree bark is still softer than Bazooka. Exactly, if America had adopted Mexican-style gun control, it probably wouldve had as many mass shootings as Mexico has had in the past 30 years. "The gun traffickers supplying Mexican drug organizations have become more selective and sophisticated in the weapons they acquire,"' said Kristen Rand, legislative director of the Washington-based Violence Policy Center, which extensively studied the issue. John Boch, you said: The English actor found the good side of being bad, Bad news that cult recovery group just might be a cult. AK-47 favorite gun of cartels - Deseret News Mexican drug cartels armed with sniper rifles that can take down ", It was a good gig for a while. In May 2008, Mexican federal police raided a suspected trafficker house in Culiacan, a long-standing drug hotbed in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. How AMLO Has Fueled Mexico's Drug War. The drug bust was a multi-agency effort involving the. Build the wall. There must be a mistake. The weapons are sold to the cartels, often for three or four times the original price. That sounds great, but the agent working with our source and his store told everyone that the charges wouldn't stick: "Our agent was pretty candid with us: He let us know the guys doing it had been arrested. You have lost 4,020 Federal, State, and Municipal Police killed by the cartels. Straw purchases for others are a violation of federal firearms law. Mexican and U.S. authorities arrested Guzman in February; he had eluded authorities for decades. He was badly wounded, while two bodyguards and an innocent bystander were killed. It weighs around 30 pounds and costs as much as a damn car. There were undercover agents in the store, sometimes. For those who never heard about this story. Being monitored by the ATF, so "We were being told, 'Oh, we're tracking their phones, we've got their license plates,' but it just kept happening. The problem isnt cartels sneaking (civilian) guns from the U.S. Where do Mexican drug cartels get their guns? Often, the United States One of the most dangerous pockets of Mexico City: Teptio, the primary-black market area, under the thumb of the Union Cartel. Mexican Cartels Are Arming Themselves to the Teeth With Powerful US Sniper Rifles High-powered .50-caliber rifles can be purchased legally in most of the U.S. and they keep showing up in the. . 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. "It doesn't say anything about conduct of retailer, manufacturer or purchaser.". There, members oftheGulf Cartel and CJNGhave formed a partnership, Jones said. Viewers see this group of teenagers create their own drug organization. American guns help arm Mexican drug cartels, including CJNG - USA Today 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. CJNG video shows off high-powered guns:Why a viral drug cartel video showing off tanks and taunts is bad news for the US. Are insane ticket costs pricing Astros fans out of Opening Day? U.S. Customs agents searched hisvehicle at the Eagle Passcrossing and found 43 shotguns, rifles and pistols. Gun-rights advocates doubt the accuracy of that claim. I tend to like Belgian, Swiss, German, Austrian, and Italian guns. It fires the same round as the AK-47 but is significantly shorter and easier to conceal. In January, a Mexican judge charged. Of course, these same quoted Mexican officials made no mention of changing their own to laws to allow the little people to own some cold steel with which they could protect themselves and their families from corrupt federales and cartel predators. We had four or five come in that first guy came in five or six times, saying he was starting a collection. Drug cartels have been using monster type armored cars for about 15 Really, these propagandists have got to get on the same page. If our source's store had just followed their guts and refused to sell to the most obviously sketchy buyers, the world would've been a little bit safer. But, who gave the arms to the Mexican cartels? Latin American criminal gangs have embraced social media and messaging platforms to spread narco culture and sell drugs. Hundreds of firearms on display before being destroyed at . Mexico: 18 bodies found after suspected drug cartel gun battle The bullet-ridden bodies of 18 men were discovered in Zacatecas state after apparent confrontation between suspected. So, you would come in, say hello, shoot the shit, ask him about his kid. On the Shelf. At one point, it was probably four to five of these rifles a week. btw It was weird that, one, he came in with $10,000 cash. 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. This story has been shared 164,095 times. Century Arms Draco 7.62X39mm pistol: Another Romanian import. Your selective quoting left out California being the source of Tijuanas American weapons (which is but a small minority of total weapons used down there, not that the article mentions that relevant fact). Last week, the Treasury sanctioned two Mexican businessmen and four Sinaloa Cartel members in connection with the illicit methamphetamine and fentanyl trade. https://tucson.com/news/national/mexican-drug-cartels-using-grenades/article_9bafe2d8-ecf2-5925-8e85-167e066dd2e9.html. Did you feel they enjoyed their purchasing experience? favorite guns of drug cartels Did that law get repealed or expire? This story has been shared 100,034 times. Now its used by more than 70 security agencies across the world, according to Barrett. 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. He sent in the federal police along with army units in an attempt to eliminate high value . Actively providing firearms to one of the most dangerous organizations in the world and Even though CDN is a rival of CJNG, its members accept payments to allowdrugs or guns to passthrough their territory. Cartel "Narco Tanks," Heavy Weapons On Full Display During Battle Over Among Mexican traffickers, it has earned itself the nickname "cuerno de chivo" or "goat horn" because of its distinctive banana-shaped magazine. Havent you heard anyone who comes to the US and gets a magic piece of paper is just as American and you and I. Oh, surprise, surprise, who was AG of California when this was happening?? The indigenous people of Mexico do arm themselves and fight the government. 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! "Operation Fast And Furious," the one you've actually heard about, launched in 2009.