Gunfight in Mexico

From StrategyPage:

When the fighting ended, ten police officers and soldiers had been wounded, but three of the drug gang were dead and ten more, some of them wounded, were in custody.  A considerable arsenal was confiscated, including 7 automatic weapons, 16 “sniper rifles,” a dozen automatic pistols, and a grenade launcher, plus grenades and ammunition, as well as flack jackets and some radios.  Much of the equipment appeared to have come from the U.S. 

They were identified as operatives of the Heriberto Lazcano drug gang, commonly known as the “Gulf Cartel.”  Among the prisoners were three Mexican-Americans, apparently all U.S. citizens, one from Texas and two from Michigan, apparently professional criminals hired to provided additional muscle.

Most of that firepower would be illegal in the United States as well, so I’m having a hard time believing we’re the source of it.  Grenades, grenade launchers, automatic weapons, are all too heavily restricted to have been sourced here.

 

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7 thoughts on “Gunfight in Mexico”

  1. I wonder why they wore flak jackets instead of body armor.

    So, I guess those “sniper rifles” are bolt-actions? Or maybe they are customized Garands…

  2. Didn’t a certain agency “misplace” a number of “automatic weapons” and a grenade launcher a while back?

  3. More likely they came up from Central America. There is a ton of US military equipment floating around down there, and I would be surprised if it didn’t regularly get sold onto the black market. And lets not forget the Mexican government as a potential source. They certainly have plenty of military hardware and the corruption necessary to sell it to drug lords.

  4. “More likely they came up from Central America.”

    Noted. I forgot about how all the neat little paramilitary groups get their equipment.

  5. That’s what I’m wondering. Whether they are taking M16s off these guys, and because that’s a US made rifle, they are arguing it came from the United States. Well, it was made here, but it’s not like they crossed the border to buy one at a dealer or gun show.

  6. Something more common than the amount of times it is reported is the theft of military arms from bases right here in the good old USA. It would be relatively easy to get those weapons here within our borders. Probbaly a bit harder now that we are at war, but relatively easy with the amount of gang members in our military services.

  7. “Authorities said they had seized 40 weapons and related equipment, including AK-47s and AR-15s, as well as three vehicles: a white 2005 Chevy Suburban, blue 2001 GMC Yukon and 1995 maroon Dodge Neon.” (from http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/police_17066___article.html/mexican_bravo.html)

    “Automatic” sounds very much like they mean “autoloading” or Not Fully Automatic, especially since they use the word with pistols as well.

    Also, since authorities are stating that they seized AK-47s as well as AR-15s I would take that as a strong indication that M-16s were not present, since they have as much or more name recognition as the AR-15.

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