Mexico sues US gunmakers over arms trafficking, deadly violence

A rift has erupted between US and Mexico over arms trafficking, with the Mexican government suing some of the biggest American gun manufacturers, saying they are fueling bloodshed through lax controls and reckless business practices.

The lawsuit — filed in US federal court in Boston — seeks as much as $10bn in compensation from the American companies.

Mexican authorities say the lax controls contribute to the illegal flow of weapons over the border, arguing that US-made weapons have “fueled an explosion in homicides” in Mexico over the past decade.

The lawsuit names US companies including Smith & Wesson Brands, Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Beretta USA, Glock and Colt’s Manufacturing Co.

The suit says the Mexican government took the action “to put an end to the massive damage that the [companies] cause by actively facilitating the unlawful trafficking of their guns to drug cartels and other criminals in Mexico.”

Mexico’s Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, has said, “If we don’t file a suit like this and win it, they’re never going to understand, they’re going to continue doing the same thing and we will continue having deaths every day in our country.”

Ebrard said, “We are going to win the trial and we are going to drastically reduce illicit arms trafficking to Mexico.”

Mexico has been grappling with heavily-armed cartel-led deadly violence in recent years, with cartels, who had been involved in drug trade, splintering into smaller, feuding groups that have diversified into extortion, kidnapping and other criminal activities.

In 2019 alone, more than 17,000 murders in Mexico were linked to trafficked weapons.

A Mexican government study said around 2.5 million illicit American guns have poured across the border over the past decade.