Mexico puts foreign arms flow high on agenda

MEXICO CITY－Long under pressure to curb drug smuggling, Mexico is seeking to hold the United States partly responsible for rampant cartel-related violence by suing US-based gunmakers over illegal firearms trafficking.

The lawsuit filed in a Boston court is part of the Latin American nation's efforts to put the issue of cross-border weapons flows at the heart of the diplomatic conversation between the neighbors, experts say.

"Mexico is really managing to say that this is a bilateral problem," said Cecilia Farfan, an expert on organized crime at the University of California, San Diego.

"In the same way that the US is saying, 'I need you to do something about illegal drug trafficking', Mexico is saying, 'I need you to do something about guns'," she said.

The suit filed in early August accuses major gunmakers including Smith & Wesson, Beretta, Colt, Glock, Century Arms, Ruger and Barrett over firearms trafficking that Mexico blames for fueling cartel-related bloodshed.

Between 70 and 90 percent of all weapons recovered from crime scenes in Mexico were smuggled in from the US, the Mexican Foreign Ministry says.

Negligent practices

The litigation seeks compensation for the damage caused by the firms' alleged "negligent practices", as well as the implementation of adequate standards to "monitor and discipline" arms dealers.

Although it is unclear if the suit will succeed, "the objective is symbolic and political to open the debate", said Romain le Cour, an expert at the consultancy firm Noria Research.

Mexico has seen more than 300,000 murders, most of them blamed on criminal gangs, since the government of then-president Felipe Calderon deployed the military in the war on drugs in 2006.

Many weapons reach Mexico from the US through small-scale shipments known as "ant trafficking".

"They bring them either in parts or whole with contraband merchandise, clothes and various items imported to Ciudad Juarez," said Jorge Nava, a prosecutor in the border Mexican state of Chihuahua.

Agencies Via Xinhua