"He never saw those guns," his attorney told The Courier Journal. Snowfall is my favorite show centered around drugs - EVER. "It doesn't say anything about conduct of retailer, manufacturer or purchaser.". And then paperwork started. SALT LAKE CITY A Utah woman is heading to federal prison for buying dozens of high powered rifles for Mexican drug cartel members. "We have adequate laws on the books. A gun that can shoot through tanks is pretty useful for that. The Bureau Of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), despite sounding like the most fun bureau in history, generally frowns on that kind of thing. Bushmaster describes the AR-15 rifle, a civilian version of the U.S. military's standard-issue M-16, as intended "for law enforcement, security and private consumer use." You try and keep it as normal as possible; you don't want to spook him because then everything's shot as well. Not with all their progressive laws. Since joining the Tulsa World in 1999, I have been a three-time winner of Oklahoma's top award for investigative . Distraction. Have a story to share with Cracked? "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. Diaz, who pleaded guilty, and Vasquezareawaiting sentencing. Theycould each face up to 10 years in prison. Christ, John; do a little digging please, since this article is easily refuted/debunked, 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. 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. "I was working in a very large gun store in Phoenix at the time, and we sold everything. One thing struck him as particularly odd: " as I'm ringing up the transaction, he has one of those little drawstring backpacks. And that region continues struggling with. He didn't know much about it beside the fact that he wanted it.". Cartels exploiting border chaos to smuggle fentanyl into US - New York Post Smuggled guns used in cartel hits - CNN.com of violence in this conflict: intra-cartel disputes, inter-cartel rivalries, and the overall war that Mexican President Felipe Caldern's government is waging on the cartels. AK-47 favorite gun of cartels - Deseret News Take a look at some of the flashiest weapons you'll ever see in the slideshow above. Investigators found several guns inside the packages, as well as in a secret compartment in the paneling. It's a more powerful version of the Beretta popularized in James Bond novels and films. "We've got agents and we've got trained criminal investigators from the host government in Mexico working investigations in Mexico," he said. 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. Never heard of Obama? "We were being told, 'Oh, we're tracking their phones, we've got their license plates,' but it just kept happening. American guns are ok, and many of the gun companies from the above countries have some US manufacturing. If someone is breaking the law, go after them. 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. [nearly all the guns they bother to trace through the ATFwhich is basically those with US markings on them, duh], 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. Why havent you closed your northern border with a massive military presence to stop south bound smuggling? And, lucky for them, America had a surplus of Barretts, because "fuck yeah.". How Texas's gun laws allow Mexican cartels to arm themselves to the November 23, 2022 Contact: Phone Number: (571) 387-3831 For Immediate Release Debt Collector and Drug Distributor for Cartel Connected, Violent, Drug Distribution Ring, Sentenced to 10 years in Prison Previous slide Next slide Handgun in leather holster Plastic bag of fentanyl pills Move slider to item #1 Move slider to item #2 I could have sworn that at one time there was a federal law that banned face masks, a law intended to force the KKK out into the open. Instead, the ATF lost 1,400 (or more!) Coke was originally supposed to make you smarter or something. Was Operation Fast And Furious Really Part Of A Secret Deal - Forbes Between 2009 and 2020, authorities seized 358 M82rifles, according to official figures cited by the Milenio newspaper. 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. Mexican officials want to disarm America so the can finally claim Texas again and spread there filth into the lungs and veins of every Godless heathen that exists :). Or perhaps Newsweek went out of print before the Fast and Furious story broke. The group decries the name "assault weapon" and refers to high-powered guns as "modern sporting rifles." You don't buy five to six of the same 10k rifle for a collection. If not, they should be left alone. "As a result of the continued use and possession of many of these guns, residents of Mexico will continue to be killed and injured by these guns, and the public will continue to fear for their health, safety, and welfare," Americanattorneys wrote in the suit on behalf of Mexico. Yet, none of that is relevant, history is often forgotten. ", Spencer Platt/Getty Images News/Getty Images, "Once the ATF was more involved, we had a separate set of paperwork. Well short answer. The sheriff believes cartel coyotes are making between $1,000 and $1,500 for every person brought into the country. 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. "You put on a face, like any customer service job, and you try to build a rapport with these guys. We'll sell those guys so many guns they drown in them! Oh NOW the ATF Thinks Running Guns to the Mexican Cartels is a Bad Idea MEXICO CITY, Aug 6 The flow of high-caliber arms smuggled across the porousUS border has alarmedMexicanofficials and few weapons are as powerful as theUS-made M82 semi-automaticrifleincreasingly favored by the powerfuldrugcartels. Mexico Sues Gun Companies in U.S., Accusing Them of Fueling Violence Why doesnt it stop guns from going through their border into Mexico? Workers repair the facade of City Hall riddled with bullet holes in Villa Union, Mexico, in December 2019, after a gun battle between a heavily armed drug cartel assault group and security forces. "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. Oh, surprise, surprise, who was AG of California when this was happening?? There is strict gun control in Mexico despite the fact that bearing arms is constitutionally protected. While this is isn't based on one true story, it follows a teenager at the forefront of the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. A total of 852, 29 percent, were from Arizona. Barn Brain also conveniently ignores the fact that there are gunsmiths in the U.S. and Mexico that regularly convert semi-auto American made guns to full auto as well and yes they are second hand guns not vetted that come from the U.S. Its all too easy to legally ship a batch of guns to a South American Corrupt Government that just happens to have some come up missing and they get sold to drug cartels for big bucks. What Newell said quite clearly is that . The 5,114 figure is simply wrong. 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 Insider: Reggie Yates - Episode 2: Mexican Army: War Against Powerful and Violent Drug Cartels | Crime DocumentaryThe Insider: Reggie Yates - Episode 1: . The Central Intelligence Agency was intimately involved with the federal government's infamous "Operation Fast and Furious" scheme to send American weapons to Mexican drug cartels while. 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. By the way, where were these officials when the Obama administration was running guns into Mexico as part of Operation Fast and Furious? He claimed he didn't know the names of the gun buyers or their cartel affiliations. 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. Criminal gangs that wish to project power often post photos on social media of their members toting M82 gunsand latest military gadgets, mimicking the style of special forces units. Would they be interested in Hello Kitty grips or SpongeBob sights? To lose that many military, cops, politicians and citizens murdered by gangsters is phenomenal. The raw power of therifle, which weighs about 31 lb and is 4.9 feet long, was on show in mid-2020 during a military-style assassination attempt on Mexico Cityspolicechief that was captured by surveillance cameras. [most of his city is north of the border so that shouldnt be a surprise. A special investigative report in 2019 by TheCourier Journal warned of CJNG's ruthlessness in Mexico and its reach across the U.S. into small towns. GREENVILLE, S.C. . Roger Clemens makes surprise appearance at Astros' Spring Training, Hiker captures 'once-in-a-lifetime' photo of wildlife at Brazos Bend State Park, Houston Rockets poised to reap benefits from Eric Gordon trade, Texas congressman's breaks with GOP could lead to censure, Proposed Texas bill gives tax cuts to heterosexual families only, These bites won big at the Houston rodeo's foodie awards, Heres how you can watch 'Daisy Jones and the Six', Here's what Lina Hidalgo carb-loads before a long run, Houston police ticket man for feeding homeless people. 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. Why Mexico Is Right to Sue U.S. It depicts one cartel member dressed in a garish shirt, cowboy hat and belt buckle. No way the Democrats would support increasing the numbers of guns in the world. Pass a domestic terrorism bill. 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. Being monitored by the ATF, so The survey drawn from guns identified by manufacturer or importer in U.S. court documents from 44 cases involving 165 defendants in Texas, Arizona and three other states shows the purveyors of guns to Mexican drug traffickers followed a time-honored maxim of product salesmanship: Bigger is definitely better. John Boch, you said: Maybe if the border was more of an obstacle], Theres no way for people to buy guns like these in Mexico. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Drug_War. The recent California shooting was done by a maniac who drove for almost 12 hours to commit crime. It all started in 2017, when Norma Llamas Rodriguez, 47,. Actively providing firearms to one of the most dangerous organizations in the world and I tend to like Belgian, Swiss, German, Austrian, and Italian guns. California already has background check laws & every other useless gun control policy you fools have dreamed up. Diaz's attorney, Gregory Torres, declinedcomment. 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. A jury didn't believe him,convictingJose RafaelVasquez last month of attempting to smuggle goods out of the country. Man, how awful am I gonna feel if one of these guys gets plugged with a weapon I sold? 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. "Second Amendment Sanctuary" Texas Arms Mexican Drug Cartels Officials found 17 handguns in his car. 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. Gunmen battled on a beach near Puerto Morelos as tourists scrambled into a Hyatt . 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. That included riflesmanufactured in Tennessee and Arkansas capable of downing aircraft or ripping through armored police cars andtanks. Pre-order it now! 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). All of the straw buyers were arrested in one fell swoop in 2011. "It's a horrible epidemic, but it . It makes Americas 1930s Gangster Era a minor skirmish by comparison, and it has lasted much longer too. How does the cartel feel about branded accessories? We were a large store you meet these border patrol agents coming to pick up extra stuff. When he entered office in 2006, Caldern immediately moved on the cartels. Modern optics, including AimPoint types and the distinctive Vism ECO 434 model were seen. 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? ), We want USA to be majority white! Mexico: U.S. Supplies 90% Of Cartel's Guns. Newsweek, the defunct print magazine, reports that Mexican drug and crime cartels prefer American-made guns to use against their rivals and innocent Mexican civilians. FN Herstal PS90 rifle: It also fires the 5.7X28mm round. 1 gun in the Hearst survey was the AK-47 imported from Romania by Century International Arms of Delray Beach, Fla. Century Arms, as it's commonly known, legally circumvents a federal law stipulating that imported rifles must be suitable for "sporting purposes." Those Ma Dueces & full auto Norinco Type 56 carbines arent coming from America, duh], In addition to weapons from the States working better, Mexico cartels view firearms as status symbols, retired DEA agent Jack Riley told The San Diego Union-Tribune: It is really important to these criminal organizations, who stay in business by the threat of violence and through the use of violence; and the tools that they prefer to do that with are American-made guns. [whats the status symbol aspect have to do with anything? Serial numbers really do tell a story. Drug Cartels: 5 Most Powerful in the World | Desert Hope 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. I'm like, 'makes sense, he's a military kid.' A large-scale drug investigation in the Valley led to the seizure of millions of fentanyl pills, thousands of pounds of meth and more. It costs between $8,000 and $10,000, and it can literally put a bullet through most light tanks. Cartel gunmen armed with AK-47s purchased in Arizona overwhelmed the police, killing eight. The Mexican government estimates that more than half a million guns are smuggled from the U.S. each year, arming Mexico's deadly cartel wars. 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. A handgun covered with gold and money sized to alleged financial agent of the drug "Cartel del Golfo", Manuel Alquisires Garcia, aka "El Meme" and also know as Agustin Sanchez Morua, are shown during his presentation to the press on September 12, 2011 in Mexico City. Eighty-seven percent of traceable firearms seized by the Mexican government have been traced back to the U.S. We've inadvertently "gifted" Mexico with more than 64,000 firearms over the last five years. History of Drug Trafficking - Colombia, U.S. & Mexico - HISTORY How about we lock up a guy who sold the cartels weapons used to kill people including Brian Terry. , Mexican Drug Cartels Say Americas Gunms The Best , , , , , , fck n A ,HiPoint told yah so. At the same time, Mexico remains a cautionary preview of what might happen in America if we adopted Mexican-style gun control. Are ticket costs pricing Houston Astros fans out of Opening Day? The US rifle loved by drug cartels and feared by Mexican police A museum in Mexico City has dozens of seized paraphilia on display. 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. ReporterKarolSurez contributed to this story. Then, they were let go, because what they had done hadn't been illegal -- they hadn't seen a hand off. Excuse the pun, but when are you gonna pull the trigger on this? Mexico's drug war fought with drones, human shields, gunships Even though CDN is a rival of CJNG, its members accept payments to allowdrugs or guns to passthrough their territory. The government accuses gun makers and suppliers of knowingly flooding the market with firearms attractive to drug cartels. Drug cartels have the flashiest of weapons in their arsenal - Chron A row of glass cases are filled with seized weapons. 24 of 29 25 of 29 A handgun covered with gold and money sized to alleged financial agent of the drug "Cartel . A Draco, purchased in Joshua, Texas, near Forth Worth, was used in the attack and shooting death of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata in Mexico in February. 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. I think thats pretty fair. I bet they have favorite beers and hand grenades, too. 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. 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. To intercept more Mexico-bound guns, the U.S. Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy of 2020, of the National Drug Control Policy, vowed that "the United States will improve criminal-intelligence and information-sharing for illegal weapons trafficking and enhance cooperation with international partners.". Earlier this month, theMexican government sued U.S. gun manufacturers in federal court, accusing them of fueling the violence. Mexico Is Right to Sue U.S. Gun Companies - Foreign Policy Mexican Drug Cartels Agree: American-Made Guns Are the Best A Washington man drove to a U.S. border crossing last year in his teal Ford pickup truck loadedwith a hidden arsenal bound for a Mexican cartel war zone. For our source, who did nothing but exactly what the law told him, watching the bloody aftermath of the scandal was traumatic: "Our initial thought was how many of these can be pointed across the border at our guys? https://www.npr.org/2019/02/21/696561255/heckler-koch-fined-4-2-million-over-assault-rifle-sales-in-mexico, For no other reason than eric holder lead the investigation, I question everything we know about the Oklahoma City bombing, wow is that guy nuts. All the illegal purchases followed the same basic pattern, "They would always call, because they always wanted to know the exact amount ahead of time -- usually same day -- and make sure we had one in stock. AMLO Has Fueled Mexico's Drug War - Foreign Policy In fact, according to Newsweek, cartel criminals view American guns as status symbols because, well, they work.