12 October 2023
SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Mexico’s military on Wednesday destroyed more than 1,100 weapons and 23,800 rounds of ammunition seized in Northern Baja California in recent months.
Officials said 9 out of 10 weapons destroyed had come from the U.S.
“Guns such as 9mm and 40mm are the most decommissioned weapons in our region,” said Capt. Marino García, with the Mexican Army. “We also see .38 and .223 caliber guns along with many other types of weapons often kept for personal use.”
The guns that were destroyed came from seizures in Mexicali, Ensenada, San Quintín and Tijuana, Marino García said.
“We see 90 to 95 percent of these guns came from the United States,” said Fernando Sánchez González, Tijuana’s head of public safety and protection. “We have a problem due to our geographical location; it puts us in a complex situation with north-to-south trafficking.”
Sánchez González told reporters a lot more needs to be done to keep guns out of Mexico.
“We need to do more work in terms of border control to check for these weapons,” he said. “Seven out of every 10 people killed by guns in Tijuana were murdered with weapons that came from the United States.”
In Mexico, guns and ammunition can only be held legally by law enforcement, the military and those with special permits.