Translated by Rebecca Nannery
According to information provided by the U.S Department of Justice, among the seized weapons found in the safe house where Joaquín Guzmán Loera, infamously known as El Chapo, was found in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, last January, was a Barrett 50 calibre gun. This weapon had made its way into organized crime through the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) "Operation Fast and Furious", an operation that started at the end of the last decade with the alleged purpose of tracking weapons from the USA to Mexican criminal organizations.
MV Note: This week it was revealed by InSight Crime that weapons linked to “Fast and Furious” were found last spring at the scene of a bloody clash between Mexican police and a group of alleged cartel gunmen that left 43 dead. The clash took place on May 22, 2015, at a farm known as Rancho El Sol, near the border between the western states of Michoacán and Jalisco.First of all, it is important to bear in mind that the Barrett is a much more powerful weapon than assault rifles such as the AR-15 and the AK-47 normally used by criminal organizations. It is a special operations rifle with the capacity for large scale destruction, regularly used by different military forces around the world- the U.S and the Mexico among them. It also has the ability to neutralise lightly armoured vehicles and even shoot down low flying aircrafts.
This single example demonstrates the degree of irresponsibility of the Washington officials who organized and carried out Operation Fast and Furious, and of the legislative and judicial bodies (amongst them the U.S Department of Justice) who minimized the seriousness of this operation, failed to investigate and sanction those senior officials who were involved and they ensured impunity for the crime of gun trafficking committed within the very heart of governmental institutions.
It is also important to remember that this operation of supplying weapons to criminals was only one of the specialized collaborative efforts made between them and U.S. authorities. Preceding it there was a similarly designed operation known as "Wide Receiver", as well as an operation by the DEA to dismantle the Sinaloa Cartel money laundering network.
If you put together the inaction of the U.S against drug trafficking within its own borders, the permeability of a border equipped with the most advanced surveillance technology and the benevolence of US government agencies towards financial institutions involved in money laundering, one can only come to the conclusion that in spite of discussions and intentions, Washington has been working de facto with drug traffickers.
It is also important to remember that this operation of supplying weapons to criminals was only one of the specialized collaborative efforts made between them and U.S. authorities. Preceding it there was a similarly designed operation known as "Wide Receiver", as well as an operation by the DEA to dismantle the Sinaloa Cartel money laundering network.
If you put together the inaction of the U.S against drug trafficking within its own borders, the permeability of a border equipped with the most advanced surveillance technology and the benevolence of US government agencies towards financial institutions involved in money laundering, one can only come to the conclusion that in spite of discussions and intentions, Washington has been working de facto with drug traffickers.
The case of the Barrett gun (and of other war supplies such as anti-tank grenades and missiles that have been confiscated from criminals) brings to light that while the U.S. offered the Mexican government its collaboration in the war on drugs ordered by the then President, Felipe Calderón, it turned a blind eye on the supply of military arms to criminal groups and therefore contributed to the death of civilians and servicemen and to the destruction of the rule of law in our country.
The U.S’s duplicity in this matter has been certainly met with docility by the Mexican officials, giving U.S. officials the chance to make very significant decisions about Mexican public security. So, it is for this reason alone, that today, with hindsight, it is clear that Calderón’s war was destined to fail and lose tens of thousands of lives from the offset. Spanish original
See also:
The U.S’s duplicity in this matter has been certainly met with docility by the Mexican officials, giving U.S. officials the chance to make very significant decisions about Mexican public security. So, it is for this reason alone, that today, with hindsight, it is clear that Calderón’s war was destined to fail and lose tens of thousands of lives from the offset. Spanish original
See also:
Does Either Mexico or U.S. Really Want to Win War on Organized Crime?
Mexico Government Does Nothing to Challenge U.S. Arms Traffic
Mexico Fatalism in the Face of U.S. Gun Trafficking Must End