The United States: Arms Supplier to Drug Traffickers
The New York Times reported that Mexican police are “overwhelmed” by drug cartels due to the use of weapons and ammunition made for the U.S. military. In particular, the newspaper reported that on Nov. 30, 2019, "a convoy of pickup trucks carrying men armed with a heavy machine gun and .50-caliber rifles entered the Mexican town of Villa Unión in the state of Coahuila and opened fire" with such magnitude that the ground trembled. During the collection of shell casings from the scene where 19 alleged criminals, four police officers and two civilians lost their lives, investigators determined that the ammunition bore the initials, "LC," signifying production by the U.S. Army's Lake City Ammunition Plant. This facility, owned by the federal government, is recognized as the largest manufacturer of rifle cartridges for Pentagon personnel.
Although .50-caliber bullets are so powerful that they are used to destroy vehicles and even light aircraft, in the United States they are freely available for sale to the general public as part of the well-known laxity that characterizes the marketing, possession, carrying and use of firearms in that country. It is worth remembering that, despite the tragic shootings that devastate schools, religious temples, supermarkets, concerts, and movie theaters in the United States, gun shops reject only 0.5% of purchase requests. In some states, individuals are permitted to purchase firearms without meeting a minimum age requirement. Additionally, legislation enacted during the Reagan administration restricts state and local governments from maintaining records on firearm owners, resulting in an absence of official documentation regarding ownership or the number of firearms possessed. Put simply, individuals are able to buy unlimited ammunition from any of the 9,811 gun stores located in the four states bordering our nation, then smuggle it south without having to register their name.
For these reasons, since August 2021, the Mexican federal government has filed lawsuits in U.S. courts against gun manufacturers whose design, marketing and distribution practices are alleged to contribute to illicit firearms trafficking into Mexico. Although the Washington judiciary chose to protect the death industry, the Mexican state won a moral victory by proving U.S. responsibility for providing organized crime with the firepower that allows it to stand up to the authorities and which has contributed to the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, affecting both individuals involved in illegal activities and innocent civilians.
It is now known that not only private enterprise, but the U.S. government itself, is a major supplier to the cartels that the White House claims to be pursuing with all its might. This is a resounding confirmation of the hypocrisy that taints all aspects of the false “war on drugs” and that, for Washington, the fight against criminal organizations is merely a pretext for violating the sovereignty of other nations, with Latin America and the Caribbean being the main victims of this interventionism.
President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly boasted of knowing all the movements and locating all the drug traffickers south of the Rio Grande, would do well to use the formidable espionage apparatus he claims to have at his disposal to control crime within his own country instead of squandering public money on kidnapping leaders, hunting down five-year-old children and supporting genocide against the Palestinian people.
Although .50-caliber bullets are so powerful that they are used to destroy vehicles and even light aircraft, in the United States they are freely available for sale to the general public as part of the well-known laxity that characterizes the marketing, possession, carrying and use of firearms in that country. It is worth remembering that, despite the tragic shootings that devastate schools, religious temples, supermarkets, concerts, and movie theaters in the United States, gun shops reject only 0.5% of purchase requests. In some states, individuals are permitted to purchase firearms without meeting a minimum age requirement. Additionally, legislation enacted during the Reagan administration restricts state and local governments from maintaining records on firearm owners, resulting in an absence of official documentation regarding ownership or the number of firearms possessed. Put simply, individuals are able to buy unlimited ammunition from any of the 9,811 gun stores located in the four states bordering our nation, then smuggle it south without having to register their name.
For these reasons, since August 2021, the Mexican federal government has filed lawsuits in U.S. courts against gun manufacturers whose design, marketing and distribution practices are alleged to contribute to illicit firearms trafficking into Mexico. Although the Washington judiciary chose to protect the death industry, the Mexican state won a moral victory by proving U.S. responsibility for providing organized crime with the firepower that allows it to stand up to the authorities and which has contributed to the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, affecting both individuals involved in illegal activities and innocent civilians.
It is now known that not only private enterprise, but the U.S. government itself, is a major supplier to the cartels that the White House claims to be pursuing with all its might. This is a resounding confirmation of the hypocrisy that taints all aspects of the false “war on drugs” and that, for Washington, the fight against criminal organizations is merely a pretext for violating the sovereignty of other nations, with Latin America and the Caribbean being the main victims of this interventionism.
President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly boasted of knowing all the movements and locating all the drug traffickers south of the Rio Grande, would do well to use the formidable espionage apparatus he claims to have at his disposal to control crime within his own country instead of squandering public money on kidnapping leaders, hunting down five-year-old children and supporting genocide against the Palestinian people.
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