By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON D.C., United States – A study by the Government Accountability Office found that most firearms linked to drug violence in Mexico come from the U.S.  The report cites Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives data showing that approximately 87 percent of firearms seized by Mexican authorities and submitted to the U.S. for tracing in the last 5 years came from the U.S. Roughly a quarter of the guns seized are high-caliber, high-powered assault style weapons, such as AK-47s and AR-15s.  Most of the guns came from shows and stores in the southwestern U.S.

The majority of the illegal weapons that cross the border are intended to support Mexican drug cartels. Drug-related murders have jumped to 6,200 last year from 2,700 in 2007, according to the study.  Investigators cited a “lack of a comprehensive U.S. government-wide strategy to for addressing the problem”.

The ATF and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are most responsible for tracking illegal weapons and are reportedly ineffective because they “lack clear roles and responsibilities and have been operating under an outdated inter-agency agreement”.

The Department of Homeland Security disputes these conclusions, and notes that a new agreement between the two agencies is awaiting final approval. Gun-rights groups have similarly challenged the assertions of the report and contend that the data is incomplete because only 7,200 of 30,000 seized weapons are submitted for tracing.

The report stated that, while it was possible that some of the weapons used by drug cartels come from outside the U.S. the likelihood is very slim because the weapons are “so easy” to get from the U.S.  The report cited bureaucratic problems in Mexico as a reason that many seized weapons do not make it to the U.S. for tracing.

The Obama administration released a 2009 National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy, in which he called for the deployment of new technology, stepping up intelligence gathering and increasing interdiction of ships, aircraft and vehicles that are smuggling drugs, guns and cash.  The strategy includes, for the first time, a chapter on countering illegal arms trafficking to Mexico.  The report openly acknowledges that the 2007 Merida Initiative to counter the illegal drug trade did not take into consideration the flow of illegal cash and weapons.

Representative Eliot L. Engel (D. N.Y.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, which is holding a hearing on arms trafficking said ” It is simply unacceptable that the United States not only consumes the majority of the drugs flowing from Mexico, but also arms the very cartels that contribute to the daily violence that is devastating Mexico.”