Mexican cartel leader claims gang buys all its guns in US
But while the captured crime boss's announcement is sure to fuel the debate over gun control in the US, there is reason to view it with skepticism.
Suspect Jesus 'El Mamito' Rejon is presented by the police to the media in Mexico City on Monday. Rejon is thought to be a founding member and currently third in command of the Zetas, which was started by former Mexican special forces soldiers and is considered the country's most brutal cartel.
Bernardo Montoya/Reuters
During an interview recorded by Mexico鈥檚 Ministry of Public Safety, Jesus Enrique Rejon, alias 'El Mamito,' told officials that the feared drug gang purchases all of its guns in the US. In the interview (the video of which is available ), Mr. Rejon claims the group used to sneak the arms through border checkpoints, but stricter security measures have forced them to smuggle them across the Rio Grande. He also alleged that the Zetas鈥� rival Gulf Cartels have an easier time bringing weapons across the border. 鈥淚t got harder, but we can still get them,鈥� Rejon said. 鈥淭hose in the Gulf Cartel get them a lot easier; we don鈥檛 know why. It鈥檚 impossible to buy them and smuggle them in a vehicle trunk, but they do it. There must be a deal somewhere. I don鈥檛 know.鈥�
It has long been known that gun stores in the American Southwest are a significant source of weaponry to Mexican cartels, a topic that InSight Crime has covered extensively in its . But while Rejon鈥檚 remark can be seen as a just another indictment of the availability of arms in US, there is reason to view it with skepticism. In reality, evidence suggests that US gun stores are only one source of weaponry for the Zetas. Much of their arms, especially heavy machine guns, high caliber rifles, and grenades, come from corrupt elements in the militaries of Central America.
One known source of these weapons is the Guatemalan military. In March and April of 2009, security officials in Guatemala raided two remote Zeta training camps and recovered an array of weaponry, ranging from landmines to rocket launchers. When traced, authorities discovered that much of this deadly equipment had come from . Although officials in the country have only admitted to in which drug traffickers were able to obtain weapons from military arsenals, connections between the Zetas and the Guatemalan army are well documented, leading some to speculate that the country to the group.
But Guatemala is not the only culprit; the military of neighboring El Salvador has been linked to the Zetas as well. Last spring, officials in the country arrested four soldiers and three officers who were attempting to sell military equipment to criminal elements in . Recently, Salvadoran Defense Minister David Munguia that the equipment 鈥� which included more than a thousand hand grenades, several assault weapons, and military uniforms 鈥� were intended for a suspected Zeta cell in Guatemala.
So while it is likely that the Zetas get most of their common weapons, such as civilian variants of AR-15s and the AK-47s, from in the US, Rejon鈥檚 claim is inaccurate, and should be treated as such by US policymakers seeking to use it in the domestic gun control debate.
--- Geoffrey Ramsey is a writer for , which provides research, analysis, and investigation of the criminal world throughout the region. Find all of his research .