A CBS Reports investigation has unveiled a startling reality: Mexican drug cartels have been smuggling a vast arsenal of military-grade weapons from the U.S. with the assistance of American citizens. These revelations come from U.S. intelligence documents and interviews with current and former officials, exposing a well-known problem that has persisted for years with little effective intervention.
The operation involves dozens of cartel gunrunning networks that function similarly to terrorist cells. These networks compensate Americans to purchase firearms from gun stores and online dealers, spanning states as far north as Wisconsin and Alaska. These firearms, including belt-fed miniguns and grenade launchers, are then transported across the Southwest border via a chain of brokers and couriers.
A senior Justice Department official acknowledged the issue, stating, “We absolutely recognize the problem here that… the lion’s share of firearms trafficked to Mexican cartels are coming from the United States.”
Despite the U.S. government’s protracted war on drug traffickers spanning more than 50 years, the free flow of American guns across the southern border has only empowered cartels further. This has culminated in an ongoing fentanyl epidemic and has allowed cartels to outgun Mexican authorities, fueling unprecedented violence in Mexico. Chris Demlein, a former senior special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), remarked, “We have allowed the cartels to amass an army.”
Demlein led Project Thor, the first interagency intelligence project aimed at dismantling the cartels’ international weapons supply chains. Launched on July 25, 2018, Project Thor identified and connected hundreds of disparate law enforcement cases, revealing vast networks that provide cartels on-demand access to American guns. Within months, the initiative found that cartels were trafficking between 250,000 and 1 million weapons annually, with a retail value of up to $500 million.
Project Thor was instrumental in unveiling that up to 85% of firearms found at Mexican crime scenes could be traced back to the U.S. However, the project was shut down in fiscal year 2022 due to lack of funding, despite its critical findings and successes.
Efforts to combat this issue have been fragmented and insufficient. The ATF’s Operation Southbound aims to disrupt the trafficking of firearms from the U.S. to Mexico, focusing on border states. Nonetheless, many officials doubt the commitment to dismantling cartel gunrunning networks, criticizing current strategies as ineffective. Christopher Landau, a former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, warned, “Any U.S. strategy that depends, for its success, on Mexican law enforcement efforts in Mexico is doomed to failure.”
Cartels, particularly the Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa cartels, exploit America’s weak gun regulations to their advantage. High-powered rifles such as .50-caliber Barrett sniper rifles and semi-automatic AR-15s are particularly prized for their lethality. These weapons have been used to orchestrate sophisticated attacks on Mexican security forces and civilians alike.
The DEA’s National Drug Threat Assessment highlights the widespread influence of these cartels within the U.S., noting their control over synthetic drug distribution across the country. Cartels’ reach into American cities has escalated the drug crisis, with synthetic drugs like fentanyl causing almost all fatal overdoses in recent years.
The Mexican government has responded with lawsuits against U.S. gun manufacturers and dealers, alleging that they knowingly supply weapons to cartels. While these legal efforts face significant hurdles due to the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), recent court decisions have allowed some cases to proceed.
Relevant articles:
– Hacked data reveals how guns from US landed in hands of Mexican cartel , USA TODAY
– Damming the Iron River, Everytown Research & Policy
– SCOTUS urged to hear Mexico’s lawsuit blaming US gun makers for cartel violence, Fox News
– Mexican drug cartels pay Americans to smuggle weapons across the border, intelligence documents show, CBS NEWS
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