Mexico and US launch Mission Firewall to stop cross-border gun trafficking

Mexico and the United States announced connected Saturday the motorboat of a caller bilateral inaugural aimed astatine disrupting the southward travel of illicit weapons crossed the Mexico-U.S. border.

Mexican and U.S. officials thrashed retired the details of the associated task — called “Mission Firewall: United Against Firearms Trafficking Initiative” — astatine the inaugural gathering of the Mexico-U.S. Security Implementation Group, held past Friday successful McAllen, Texas.

The constitution of the binational information radical was announced earlier this period during U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s sojourn to Mexico.

The radical is acceptable to conscionable regularly to coordinate associated information actions and operations.

Mexico’s Foreign Ministry (SRE) said successful a connection that the “main goals” of Mission Firewall include:

• Increasing borderline operations to forestall weapons from entering Mexico.
• Expanding usage of the eTrace instrumentality to fortify firearms investigations successful some countries.
• Implementing ballistic recognition exertion crossed each 32 states of Mexico.
• Strengthening accusation sharing betwixt Mexican and U.S. authorities.
• Increasing investigations and prosecutions of transgression cases involving firearms.

The U.S. State Department said that the U.S. would “increase inspections and coordination with Mexico to halt the southbound travel of firearms.”

It described Mission Firewall arsenic “an ambitious bilateral effort to combat illicit firearms trafficking done an unprecedented level of collaboration betwixt some nations.”

Many of the hundreds of thousands of firearms smuggled annually into Mexico from the United States extremity up successful the hands of members of notorious cause cartels. They usage the weapons to perpetrate convulsive crimes, including murder.

The Mexican authorities has agelong called connected its U.S. counterpart to bash much to stem the southward travel of weapons, and has complimented the Trump medication for heeding that message. It besides sued a fig of United States-based weapon manufacturers and distributors, accusing them of negligent concern practices that person led to amerciable arms trafficking and deaths successful Mexico. The United States Supreme Court threw retired Mexico’s US $10 cardinal suit successful June, but the Mexican authorities has continued to propulsion U.S. authorities to ace down connected arms trafficking to Mexico, wherever guns are lone sold legally astatine 2 army-run stores.

“For the archetypal time, the United States recognizes that it has to bash operations to power … the amerciable trafficking of weapons to Mexico,” President Sheinbaum said connected Monday. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)

On Monday, President Claudia Sheinbaum said that for “years” the United States “didn’t accept” that the trafficking of weapons from the U.S. to Mexico was a “problem,” oregon “did the Fast and Furious cognition [in Mexico] with the consent of the past [president Felipe] Calderón.”

Now, “for the archetypal time, the United States recognizes that it has to bash operations to power … the amerciable trafficking of weapons to Mexico,” she said.

The statement to behaviour Mission Firewall is “very important,” Sheinbaum said.

The United States Ambassador to Mexico, Ron Johnson, said connected societal media connected Saturday that “for the archetypal time,” the U.S. and Mexico were “implementing associated inspections, real-time info-sharing, and expanded investigations to halt weapons fueling cartels.”

“… Mission Firewall marks a caller section successful U.S.–Mexico cooperation,” helium wrote.

The gathering successful McAllen

The gathering successful McAllen, a borderline metropolis other Reynosa, Tamaulipas, took spot conscionable implicit 3 weeks aft Rubio held information talks with Sheinbaum and different Mexican officials successful Mexico City. He subsequently said that the U.S. and Mexico were “amplifying” their information practice successful bid to combat organized transgression groups and the narcotics they postulation connected some sides of the border.

The State Department said that representatives from six U.S. authorities agencies and their Mexican authorities counterparts attended the gathering successful McAllen connected Friday.

Representatives from six U.S. authorities agencies and their Mexican authorities counterparts attended the inaugural Mission Firewall gathering successful McAllen, Texas, connected Friday. (@SRE_mx/X)

The SRE said that the U.S. authorities reported connected the advancement that has already been made to halt arms trafficking to Mexico. The ministry said that U.S. officials reported that since January, the Trump medication has “opened much than 125 arms trafficking investigations, seized firearms, and identified suspected members of transgression networks progressive successful this transgression connected U.S. territory.”

At the meeting, the Mexico-U.S. Security Implementation Group besides announced “the enactment of a bilateral moving radical to combat cross-border illicit concern and cooperate connected civilian plus forfeiture,” according to the State Department.

It besides said that “at Mexico’s request, the United States has created a first-of-its-kind unafraid level to let accusation sharing regarding suspicious aerial shipments and packages to place and interdict illicit drugs, chemic precursors, firearms, and illicit fuels.”

The ramping up of information practice betwixt Mexico and the United States comes arsenic U.S. President Donald Trump continues to unit the Mexican authorities to bash much to combat cartels and halt narcotics, particularly fentanyl, from reaching the U.S.

So-called “fentanyl tariffs” that Trump imposed connected non-USMCA compliant imports from Mexico successful March stay successful effect.

Sheinbaum has said connected countless occasions that her authorities is consenting to cooperate and collaborate connected information issues with its U.S. counterpart, but won’t judge subordination oregon immoderate usurpation of its sovereignty. She revealed successful May that she had declined an connection from Trump to nonstop the U.S. service into Mexico to combat cartels, and has ruled retired the anticipation of the U.S. “invading” the state oregon bombing cartel targets.

Mexico News Daily