Fast and Furious 2? Mexican officials demand investigation into military weapons smuggled from U.S.

MEXICO CITY— In the latest diplomatic incident between the Mexican government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the administration of Democrat incumbent President Joe Biden, Mexican officials are demanding an investigation into military-style weapons (belt-fed machine guns, rocket launchers, and grenades) not for civilian sale being smuggled into the country.

As reported by The Associated Press, Mexican Army officials have reported that these military-style weapons of American origin are being found in Mexico. Foreign Relations Secretary Alicia Bárcena told the wire service, "The (Mexican) Defense Department has warned the United States about weapons entering Mexico that are for the exclusive use of the U.S. army. It is very urgent that an investigation into this be carried out."

The Mexican Army or Ejército Mexicano, which boasts a well-equipped, if heavily engaged, modern force of over 400,000 active duty personnel according to GlobalFirepower, has struggled for years to combat the well-funded and surprisingly organized forces of the drug cartels that control vast tracts of the countryside and even some cities.

The Army said in June that among its seizures from the cartel fighters 221 fully-automatic machine guns, 56 grenade launchers, and 12 rocket launchers were confiscated since 2018, per the AP. 

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar, a former Democrat U.S. Senator from Colorado, told reporters, "We are going to look into it, we are committed to working with Sedena (Mexico’s Defense Department) to see what’s going on."

As previously reported by Law Enforcement Today, a $10 billion lawsuit is currently being litigated between the government of Mexico and several American firearm manufacturers attempting to hold the U.S. arms industry liable for the smuggling of weapons over the U.S.-Mexico border and the violence south of the border that is committed with them.

The case was initially dismissed as a violation of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), but has been allowed to proceed by the First Circuit Court of Appeals in a ruling replete with anti-Second Amendment talking points.

The L.A. Times reported Monday that Bárcena is also seeking sanctions against airlines and bus lines moving illegal immigrants from South and Central America through Mexico.
 

“The United States said it was going to impose sanctions on South American and Central American companies that are transporting migrants irregularly, and they want us to do the same,” Bárcena said. “The [Mexican] Interior Department is going to call on the bus and airline companies, but we don’t want them [the United States] to act unilaterally.”

As noted by American Military News, the weapons confiscated by the Mexican Military were not identified as being sourced from the U.S. military. There is wide speculation that the weapons could have been sourced on the black market via South and Central American nations via Mexico's equally porous southern border and cartel compromised ports.