The document, published by the Seminar on violence and peace Del Colmex, points out that various thesis and investigations carried out by academics and civil organizations both in Mexico and in the United States, estimate that they annually enter the national territory between 200,000 and 873,000 weapons along the northern border.
Between 2000 and 2017, during the governments of Vicente Fox, Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto, Mexico had approximately 16.8 million weapons, both legal and illegal. Of that total, 3.4 million were of official or military use.
This means that more than 13 million weapons entered irregularly to the country, mainly from the United States.
The investigation indicates that, of the total weapons that circulate illegally in Mexico, between 2005 and 2024, 337,067 units were secured. Of these, 163,420 were recovered and destroyed during the six -year period of Felipe Calderón; 109,097 with Andrés Manuel López Operator; And just over 55,000 with Enrique Peña Nieto.
In addition, between 2006 and 2012, the United States government illegally introduced weapons to Mexico as part of the “fast and furious” operational controversy, with the aim of tracking criminal organizations, which contributed to the increase in the circulation of weapons in the country .
The study warns that the use of firearms in malicious homicides has increased.
In 2004, of the 9,368 deaths for homicide, 4,371 were committed with firearms. For the closure of López Obrador’s sexenio, in 2024, the figure amounted to 27,794 homicides, of which 20,268 – 72.92% – were perpetrated with firearms, reflecting an alarming growth in its use to commit this type of crime.
