MEXICO |
Gunrunning. William D. Newell, the Arizona and New Mexico director of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), said on 23 February that over the past 18 months his agency had seen an increase in the acquisition of armour-piercing weaponry by two of Mexico's main criminal organisations, the Sinaloa and Golfo gangs. Newell concluded that the gangs were preparing more assassination attempts on senior officials. Newell, who has extensive field experience of Mexican gangs' activities in the US, was speaking at a press conference at the US embassy in Mexico City. He said that the gangs were now interested in buying 50mm weapons, which are armour-piercing and against which body-armour gives little protection.
Newell suggested that the gangs' interest in more powerful weapons was a reaction to the Mexican government's strong offensive against organised crime. Newell, a key figure on the US side of Operation Gunrunner, launched in April 2005, reiterated that the US government was committed to reducing the flow of weapons from the US to Mexico. He noted that since the start of the initiative there had been a 450% increase in arrests; a 300% increase in convictions for gun running and a 400% increase in investigations.
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