Abundant weapons smuggling deluges Mexico
By Chris Roberts / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 09/23/2007 05:38:56 PM MDT
http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_6979068

The cartels that smuggle millions of dollars worth of drugs into the United States are able to work their trade, in part, because of weapons they get rather easily from the United States, according to Mexican and U.S. authorities.

In this country, the issue of illegal immigration has been growing in importance with rhetoric often outpacing the facts. But for Mexico, the problem is flowing in the other direction.

Thousands of firearms -- including automatic weapons such as AK-47s and AR-15s -- are smuggled into Mexico each week, according to estimates from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. "It's been a consistent flow of firearms going south," said Tom Crowley, a spokesman for the bureau's Dallas division. "Historically, it's pure supply and demand."

U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, said Friday that he is looking at the possibility of increasing the bureau's budget so it can more effectively deal with the problem. A study he asked for to determine the scope of the problem is almost ready for release, he said. And the bureau has instituted the Southwest Border Initiative, which combines resources of the Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Phoenix divisions, "to stem the flow of firearms into Mexico and thereby deprive the narcotics cartels of their deadly weapons."

In recent years, there has been an increase in the automatic weapons and other weapons of war such as fragmentation grenades and armor-piercing bullets that can be used to fight

the organized police and military efforts to combat drug running in Mexico, Crowley said. "We have seen a big increase on the more lethal types of weapons," he said.

The weapons are obtained in a transaction called a "straw purchase," Crowley said.

"The gun runner pays someone living in the United States, a family member or a friend, to go into the gun shop, pay in cash, lie on the federal form about whether the weapons are for him or her self, and then hand over the weapons to traffickers," Crowley said. Payments for a single weapon reportedly can range from $20 to $200.

In 2004, 90 percent of 1,800 guns recovered at crime scenes or illegally possessed in Mexico were traced to U.S. gun dealers, Crowley said, citing the most recent figures he had available. The tracking and interdiction of weapons is a result of intelligence gathered from informants, analyzing trace information such as serial numbers and inspecting firearms dealers, including those operating at gun shows, he said.

In a recent visit to El Paso, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell highlighted the problem during a talk at the University of Texas at El Paso.

"There are lots of weapons available in the United States, lots of guns shows and so on," McConnell said. "It's a very porous border. So, if you are a cartel and you're fighting to retain your area, or keep another cartel out, or whatever, you get weapons from the most readily available sources.

"How big is it (the problem)? I don't know. I do know, from the Mexican government's point of view, it's a significant problem. And they've asked us to take a look at it."

At a recent news conference, the Associated Press reported that Mexico Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said, "U.S. laws allow citizens to have guns that are authentically warlike. ... We have to find a more effective way of stopping these arms from flowing into the country and giving these gangs such significant firepower."

Reyes said the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is looking into the problem.

"It's a political issue because Mexico has brought it to our attention," Reyes said. "I've got a study going on right now to better understand how extensive of a problem it might be and I haven't gotten the results yet. But, to me, it doesn't make sense because the favored weapon of the cartels is the AK-47 and we certainly aren't a source for the AK-47. I'm not saying that there aren't guns being smuggled into Mexico, there probably are, but in the numbers that would be a problem, it doesn't (seem that way.)"

Nonetheless, Reyes said the committee is asking for more detail "because I think we owe it to ourselves to gather as much data as possible before we say, 'no, it's not an issue,' or 'yes, here's how we're going to help.'"

The bureau's Southwest Border Initiative includes using personnel and ATF certified explosives detection dogs as well as expanding firearms tracing programs. Crowley declined to provide numbers of personnel or dogs citing operational security; however he said an additional office has been added in Las Cruces for cases that have been handled in the El Paso office.

Increasing cooperation between the United States and Mexico also is expected to provide more information and "vital investigative leads" into illegal firearms trafficking, he said.

Chris Roberts may be reached at chrisr@elpasotimes.com; 546-6136.