Written by Michael Thervil
When it comes to being the number one weapons manufacturer in the world, America takes that ranking. But what do you really expect from a nation that has been in some sort of war for at least nearly 80% of its existence? In a county that performs background checks on almost every citizen that seeks to purchase a firearm, America has grossly failed in its efforts to stop felons from acquiring weapons. There's yet another problem that exists when it comes to America and its over reliance on weapon manufacturing. That problem lies in the fact that not only does America view war as a positive economically, but the weapons that it’s sending to Ukraine in support of their failed war against Russia are making their way to its back-yard neighbor – Mexico.
For decades, law enforcement authorities on both the American and Mexican sides were under the assumption that the weapons that were falling into the hands of the Mexican Cartels were solely being illegally imported into Mexico by what is known as “straw purchases”. But the truth was that only a small amount actually was. A straw purchase occurs when someone purchases a firearm from someone else who is not legally allowed to possess a firearm. In America if someone is caught engaging in these illegal transactions, they can face up to 10 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine.
But in the case of Ukraine which is still ranked one of the most corrupt nations in the world, Ukrainian weapon traffickers are able to traffic weapons given to them via weapon aid packages by the United States for black market sales to just about any country in the world. When it comes to weapon trafficking, we’re talking more than small arms (pistols and rifles). We’re talking about various rockets to include the Javelin rocket launching system, explosives, anti-tank missiles, and more. Keep in mind that the trafficking of weapons is a $600 billion plus industry and is expected to increase with no signs of slowing down in the foreseeable future.
It's no secret that a large plethora of weapons that were sent to Ukraine as a part of America's weapons aid package go missing before the Ukrainian troops get their hands on them. Making matters worse, a claim has also been made that senior ranking members within the Ukrainian military have trafficked weapons to Mexico as well as other countries, militias and even known terrorists through the Sahel region of Africa. One of those recipients is Boko Haram.
Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) photo by REUTERS/Stringer
Currently Mexico is launching an investigation into the 56 grenade launchers, an estimated dozen or so rocket launchers, and the 221 fully automatic machine guns and counting that were seized from the Mexican drug cartels since 2018. Keep in mind that these are military grade weapons, meaning that they have fully automatic capabilities unlike the “sporterized” semi-automatic versions that are sold to the American public and tend to make it over the U.S./Mexico border and are also often used in mass and school shootings which have become commonplace in America.
As of Monday (1/22/2024), a $10 billion lawsuit once initiated by Mexico received a fresh breath of life in the Boston Massachusetts appeals court against 7 U.S. based firearm manufacturers. Within the lawsuit, Mexico made the claim that the several weapons manufactures knew that the weapons were going to be trafficked into Mexico and that they knew that they would be protected by American law. Currently, American law shields weapons manufactures from being sued by the PLCAA (Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act) which was enacted in 2005. Some of the weapon’s manufactures being sued by Mexico are the following:
Beretta USA
Barrett Firearms Manufacturing
Colt's Manufacturing Co.
Glock Inc.
Smith & Wesson
Century International Arms
To date there is only one firearm store in Mexico which is owned solely by the Mexican military where Mexican citizens can purchase a firearm; and less than 50 firearm permits are issued on an annual basis. Additionally, there are some people that are wondering if pro-gun organizations like the National Rifle Association (NRA) have any knowledge of some of the dark practices within the firearm manufacturing industry. The public speculation of the NRA having some kind of knowledge of weapons trafficking sparks interest as its 30-year President Wayne LaPierre steps down amidst him facing corruption charges in Manhattan, New York.
Like it or not, not only does Ukraine have some serious dirt on its hands, by default so does America because they knowingly gave one of the most corrupt countries (declared by American authorities) billions in weapon aid packages.
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