Weapons Capacity Of Criminal Groups Has Surpassed Conventional Levels

 "Ivan" for Borderland Beat 

Criminals show off their "little toys" on their social networks; the power of these groups has increased

Román Ortega | El Occidental

The weaponry capacity of criminal groups against municipal and state police is evident, even more so when the weapons used by the delinquents are similar to those used in a war. They are automatic, lethal and capable of perforating even some armor. Nothing to do with the .38 Special and shotguns still carried by the uniformed officers guarding the municipalities.

It is evident that the firepower of these groups has increased in recent years, proof of which are the weapons that have been used in different confrontations they have had with authorities of the three levels of government, and which have been seized by the different authorities.

The armament capacity of criminal groups, mainly the Jalisco Cartel - New Generation, has surpassed conventional levels by having access to weapons that are used in warfare. The same criminal groups show off their weapons in videos that are recorded by themselves and later disseminated on social networks, as happened last July 2020, when the elite group of the CJNG showed off its arsenal in a video recorded in a mountainous area.

"Yes, they are definitely weapons used by the armies, including that of North America, which has the most powerful weapons and which are in the hands of civilians, of Mexicans, mainly of the cartels that move in our country," explained Fransico Reynoso, a member of the Observatory of Security and Justice of the University of Guadalajara.

Weapons of War

According to journalistic records and military sources, some of the most powerful weapons that have been used by organized crime in Jalisco are the Browning M2 machine guns with an average price of 3,000 dollars; the M249 light machine gun, with a price of 4,000 dollars; the .50 caliber barret with a cost of around 13,000 dollars, and even rocket launchers with a price of around 3,000 dollars.

Many of these weapons arrived in the failed "Fast and Furious" operation, through which the U.S. and Mexican governments intended to track them and get to the criminals. They did not, they detected the transmitters and got rid of them.

But there are others that were not part of that list and are even more modern, which evidently have been made in clandestine and wholesale purchases from large international arms traffickers and even some of them from the Middle East.

"Yes, a rocket launcher that is supposed to be very difficult to get into the hands of civilians, which are supposed to be weapons that should be controlled, mainly by those who manufacture them, mainly in this case the United States of America", said the academic.

According to the specialist from the University of Guadalajara, the number of weapons seized by the authorities throughout the country in the last two years represents only 10% of those currently in circulation.

"It is estimated that there are more than 15 million illegal weapons in our country. In the last 6 years alone, two million entered, only 200 thousand weapons were confiscated against two million that remain," the specialist emphasized.

INEGI data indicate that during 2020, a total of 9,995 firearms were seized nationwide. Jalisco had a total of 156 firearms seized, of which 51 were long arms and 105 were short arms.

Rocket launchers

El Universal 

On May 1, 2015, the Jalisco Cartel - New Generation used a rocket launcher to shoot down a Navy helicopter in the municipality of Autlan. Eighteen people were traveling in the aircraft, including 11 military personnel, two Federal Police agents and five of the crew.

Grenade launcher

In recent events, last June, Guadalajara police officers arrested two individuals with grenade launchers.

The first case took place in the downtown area, where officers arrested Julio Noé, 28, who was found with drugs, two grenades and a grenade launcher.

In another incident, 37-year-old Francisco Javier was arrested at the intersection of Calzada Independencia and Madero. In the action, they seized a grenade launcher that was under a baby carrier in the back seat of the car in which he was traveling.

EL OCCIDENTAL