INTRODUCCIÓNINTRODUCCIÓN

MEASURES TO COMBAT ILLICIT TRAFFICKING IN FIREARMS

IN THE CONTEXT OF THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM

MARCH 2009

• Illicit trafficking in firearms worldwide constitutes a serious threat to international stability, peace, and security.[1]

• Of particular concern is the ease with which firearms can be acquired worldwide and can cross borders unlawfully.

• Illicit trafficking in firearms operates in accordance with basic economic principles: it has a large world market, which brings together producers, middlemen, and criminal organizations with demand for firearms.

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[1] Calmy – Rey, Micheline, “Lutte contre le commerce illicite el tútilisation abusive des armes légéres et de petit Calibre sur le plan international”, Strategie de la Suisse 2008 – 2011.

• In addition, the availability and rise in use of light weapons is lengthening the duration of civil conflicts, at extremely high cost in terms of lives lost, deferred economic development, and thwarted political development.

• In some parts of the world, the problem of illicit trafficking in firearms exacerbates the tragedy of the situation for civilians, since it is perpetrated in the context of armed conflicts.

• In the Hemisphere, the problem is especially relevant due to its multidimensional nature and specific association with different criminal organizations and urban crime.

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EVENTOS RELEVANTES EN EL MUNDO

• Mumbai, India, November 2008 • Afghanistan, April 2007

RELEVANT WORLD EVENTS

• Puerto Lleras, Colombia, February 2009 • Zacapa, Guatemala, March 2008

SITUACION DEL TRÁFICO DE ARMAS EN EL MUNDO

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF TRAFFICKING IN FIREARMS

• Terrorism and trafficking in firearms are interrelated, since the latter provides terrorist organizations with explosives and firearms, instruments actually used in their attacks.

• Criminals must be denied access to the means to perpetrate their actions, since a world trend has been noted toward greater linkage of terrorism with other types of illicit activities.

• Criminal organizations worldwide have an inherent need for large quantities of firearms, ammunition, and explosives.

• The countries most affected are those that do not produce firearms in volume.

SITUACION DEL TRÁFICO DE ARMAS EN EL MUNDO

• It is believed that illicit trafficking in firearms is the world’s second most profitable illicit business, surpassed only by drug trafficking. Last year, the value of worldwide firearms exports was US$45.6 billion[2].

• If 10 to 20%[3] of the total value of this market is illicit, each year US$456 million to US$912 million in revenue is generated.

• In April 2008, the UN Secretary General estimated that 875 million firearms are in circulation worldwide and, according to the Daily Star of Bangladesh, an estimated 2 million people worked in the illicit arms trade.

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF TRAFFICKING IN FIREARMS

[2] Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Arms control and disarmament documentary survey[3] Graduate Institute for International Studies, Geneva. Small Arms Survey 2008:Risk and Resilience. Oxford

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF TRAFFICKING IN FIREARMS

The five largest suppliers of conventional firearms, 2003 - 2007

Supplier Percentage of total firearms transfers

United States 31

Russia 25

Germany 10

France 9

United Kingdom 4

Source: Firearms transfer database, SIPRI. Http://armstrade.sipri.org

SITUATION FO TRAFFICKING INFIREARMS IN MEXICO

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF TRAFFICKING IN FIREARMS

• The vast majority of light weapons on the black market were produced and sold lawfully prior to their diversion to illicit networks. Such diversion take place in seven ways: [4]

• 1. The first and most direct way is to sendlawfully produced firearms through a third country.

• 2. Poor security and protection of arsenals by some governments.

• 3. National arsenals may be plundered in times of political instability.

• 4. Firearms may simply be mislaid and/or lost.

• 5. Where controls are absent, law enforcement officers may sell firearms.

• 6. Civilians may be robbed of their firearms, whether purchased lawfully or illicitly acquired.

• 7. National firearms acquisition legislation facilitates the availability of small arms on the illicit market, since individuals buy several firearms at the same time for illicit resale.

[4] Stohl, Rachel. The Tangled Web of Illicit Arms Trafficking, Center for American Progress

SITUACION DEL TRÁFICO DE ARMAS EN Mexico

• In Mexico, the problem of trafficking in firearms is highly complex, affected as it is by different factors, such as:

SITUATION OF TRAFFICKING IN FIREARMS IN MEXICO

Proximity to one of the world’s largest firearms markets Numerous formal and informal points of entry Demand from criminal organizations in order to perpetrate illicit activities Large quantity of firearms with relevant technical features Facilities for procurement of firearms in producing countries, and the

subsequent incorporation of firearms into criminal organizations demanding them.

REPERCUSIONES EN LA SEGURIDAD PÚBLICA

• Mexican government efforts to curb illicit trafficking in firearms are evident in the substantial rise in firearms seizure figures.

• Approximately 85% of the weapons come from the United States.From 1995 to February 2009, the following seizures were recorded:

131,309 firearms 11,568,623 rounds of ammunition 2,785 grenades

REPERCUSIONES EN LA SEGURIDAD PÚBLICA

PUBLIC SECURITY IMPLICATIONS

• Of that amount, the current administration seized: 48,632 firearms 4,206,746 rounds of ammunition 2,763 grenades

• Therefore, in its 26 months in office, the current administration has seized, as percentages of total seizures in a 13-year period:

36.03% of firearms 36.36% of rounds of ammunition 99.21% of grenades

• The number of firearms in circulation has risen.

• Not only are large quantities of weapons being seized, but also firearms with relevant features, providing criminal organizations with firepower and volume of fire. This renders vulnerable the public security entities.

• For example, on November 6, 2008, in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, military personnel seized over 400 firearms, 250 grenades, and 900,000 rounds of ammunition.

SEIZURES OF RELEVANT WEAPONRY

SEIZURES OF RELEVANT WEAPONRY

45 FN Herstal Five-Seven 5.7 x 28 mm pistols

15 M-72 anti-tank rocket launchers

38 FN Herstal PS90 5.7 x 28 mm submachine guns

SEIZURES OF RELEVANT WEAPONRY

2 37 mm MGL grenade launchers

Alexander Arms 16.50-calibre Beowulf rifles

37 mm and 40 mm grenade launcher accessories

SEIZURES OF RELEVANT WEAPONRY

23 0.50-calibre Barret rifles

2 60 mm C-03 Commando mortars (Hunter type)

2,763 fragmentation grenades

CONCLUSIONCONCLUSION

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

• Implement verifiable firearm sales records.

• Implement border controls and procedures to prevent and detect illicit trafficking in firearms.

• Create hemispheric bullet identification records to control firearms and ascertain the criminal acts where the bullets were used, including the possibility of tracking firearms and, if appropriate, detecting their diversion points.

• Create a database in the region containing the types and characteristics of weapons seized, by country.

• Real-time information exchange with data for use in conducting investigations.

• Harmonize firearms export control system criteria.

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INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

• Promote specialized training in this area, especially at the border control level, with customs and law enforcement authorities.

• Generate a shared international system to mark and monitor all firearms and ammunition, since different marking systems are permitted under international law.

• World light weapon arsenals must be properly secured and managed. Appropriate structures must be built and training provided for personnel.

• Combat cash smuggling.

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AWARENESS AND INCENTIVES

• School information campaigns on the risk of firearm use

• Promote firearm donations; exchange of firearms for groceries, electrical appliances, money, etc.

• Tighter controls on firearms sales by producers

• Adopt practices for the destruction of excess and obsolete firearms, especially in areas of conflict

• Oblige lawful firearms owners to report and inform authorities of sold, stolen, or lost firearms

LEGISLATIVE MEASURES• Adjustment of domestic legislation to regulate firearms control

PROPOSALS TO COMBAT ILLICIT TRAFFICKING IN FIREARMS

CONCLUSION

• The rise in illicit weapon acquisition is breeding violence.

• There is an upward trend in criminal acts perpetrated with firearms or explosives acquired on the illicit market, spreading especially to the Central Americancountries and along the border with the United States of America.

• Public security forces appear ineffective, as they lack weapons with as much firepower as those of criminal organizations.

• Trafficking in firearms and their potential use for terrorist purposes or to finance this scourge constitutes a growing problem at the regional level.

CONCLUSIONCONCLUSIONCONCLUSION

• Trafficking in firearms is a challenge for which all countries must share responsibility. It requires initiative on the part of producers to adopt stricter measures, as well as decisive anti-crime actions in all countries where such firearms are used.

• Addressing this problem based on a multidimensional approach will bring out similarities and differences from country to be country so that capacities for action by each State can be identified.

• We must continue to act, implement effectively the commitments undertaken, and adopt new measures to combat this problem.

• The phenomenon now experienced by Mexico – murders, kidnappings, and impunity –can only be understood as the result of violence that the use of more sophisticated weapons has enabled criminal organizations to generate. Such violence is spreading beyond Mexico’s borders to neighboring countries of the region.

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