US Firearms to Guatemala and Mexico_0

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By: ColBy Goodm

WOODROW WILSON CENTER UPDATE ON THE AMERIPRIL 2013

U.S. Firearms Trafcking toGuatemala and Mexico

A Working Pape

IntroductIon

Following an 18-month joint investigation between the Bureau o Alcohol, obacco, Firearms and Explosives

(AF) and Immigration and Customs Enorcement (ICE), U.S. authorities arrested Joel Linares Soberanis, aGuatemalan national, Fernando Argenis Huezo, and Fernandos common-law wie, Jenni Otilia Cortez, on

March 11, 2010 in Conroe, exas on alleged drug and rearms related crimes.1 From September 2008 to early2010, both Huezo and Cortez allegedly purchased scores o rearms at U.S. gun stores in exas, including

Glock semi-automatic pistols and AR-15 assault-type ries, with the intention o sending them across theU.S. border.2 At least 15 o these rearms were recovered by law enorcement authorities in both Mexico

and in Guatemala. Tree o these rearms were ound in Guatemala within two weeks o their purchase.3Customs and Border Protection (CBP) ocers discovered these activities when they noticed heroin in

the drive shat o a dodge pick-up truck owned by Huezo attempting to enter the United States. InJuly 2010, Cortez was sentenced to 45 months in prison or alsiying orms to buy a rearm.4

1. U.S. Attorneys Ofce Southern District of Texas, Joint ATF-ICE Investigation Leads to Arrest of Three,

Press Release, March 16, 2011, online at http://1.usa.gov/15a4Joe.

2 . U.S. District Court Southern District of Texas Brownsville Division, United States vs. Fernando

Argenis-Huezo and Jenni Otilia Cortez, Criminal No. B- 10-332, Indictment, led on March 30, 2010,

accessed through PACER on March 10, 2013.3 . U.S. District Court Southern District of Texas Brownsville Division, United States vs. Jenni Otilia

Cortez, Criminal No. B-10-289-MJ, Criminal Complaint, led on March 9, 2010, accessed through

PACER on March 10, 2013.

4. U.S. District Court Southern District of Texas Brownsville Division, United States vs. Jenni

Otilia Cortez, Judgement in Criminal Case, led on April 1, 2011, accessed through PACER on

March 10, 2013.


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THE LATIN AMERICAN PROGRAMand its institutes on Mexico and Brazil serve as a bridge between the United States and Latin America, pro

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leaders and policymakers, the Program contributes to more inormed policy choices in Washington, D.C., and throughout the Hemisphere.

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regarding local, national, and international public policies to address citizen insecurity and related eorts to strengthen institutions, the

observance o human rights, and the rule o law. The Program also ocuses special attention on the changing subregional dynamics o

organized crime and explores ways to diminish its pernicious eects on governance and insecurity. The Latin American Program sponsorsa blog on citizen security, http://scela.wordpress.com, which has become a key resource or citizens and public ocials throughout the

region.

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tel. (202) 6914000, ax (202) 6914001

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Although the above case highlights yet anotherexample o U.S. rearms tracking5 to Mexico, italso provides a glimpse into a relatively unknown

phenomenon: the illicit movement o U.S.-origin rearms to Guatemala. While U.S. public

attention has ocused on arms, particularly handand rocket propelled grenades, moving rom

Guatemala or El Salvador to Mexico, there hasbeen little research into U.S. rearms owing

into Central America, particularly the northerntriangle countries o Guatemala, El Salvador, and

Honduras. Based largely on an AF examina-tion o just one Guatemalan military bunker with

rearms recovered rom FY 2006 to FY 2009,AF determined that 2,687 o the 6,000 rearms

(40 percent) had a nexus with the United States

5 . Although the word trafcking can be used to mean

both licit and illicit movement, I use the more commonly

used sense of the word meaning only illicit movement.

(either because the rearms were U.S. manuac-tured or U.S. imported).6 In the last ew years,there have also been at least 34 U.S. prosecu-

tions related to rearms tracking to Guatemalainvolving a total o 604 U.S.-origin rearms tra-

cked.7

At the same time, U.S. rearms tracking toMexico appears to continue to ow at signicant

levels. According to a recent report based on astatistical analysis o the demand or rearms at

U.S. gun stores along the U.S. southwest bor-

6 . Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

(ATF), A Review of Firearms Traced that Indicated the

Guatemala Trace Project, VCAB #096490, September 2,

2009.

7 . Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

(ATF), South American Firearms Trafcking Cases,

Unpublished, 2011.
http://scela.wordpress.com/http://scela.wordpress.com/


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ments o many o these countries rearm lawsand regulations and national crime laboratories.10While all these eforts help the U.S. government

gain a better picture o U.S. rearms trackingin the sub-region, the relatively low number o

trace requests sent by countries in the sub-region,particularly Honduras, has obscured the larger

picture.11 Nevertheless, despite the relatively lownumber o traced rearms, related U.S. prosecu-

tions reveal the use o straw purchasers as a majortactic used in illegal rearms purchasing at U.S.

gun stores.

Although many arms are tracked intoGuatemala rom non-U.S. sources, this working

brie aims to shine a spotlight on what is currentlyknown about the illicit movement o U.S. ori-

gin rearms into Guatemala and provide a shortupdate on U.S. rearms tracking to Mexico.

Te rst section describes the nature and magni-tude o armed violence in Guatemala in order to

provide an overview into how rearms are beingused in crimes across Guatemala. Based largely on

AF trace data emerging rom AFs examinationo rearms in 2009, U.S. prosecution records,

and interviews with U.S. and Guatemalan o-cials, the second section gives details on the types

o U.S.-origin arms ound in Guatemala as wellas analysis on purchasing and smuggling patterns.Te third section gives an overview and update

o U.S. rearms tracking to Mexico. Te nalsection provides some initial conclusions and rec-

ommendations.

10 . Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives(ATF), Guatemala Small Arms Assessment: After-Action

Report, August 2010.

11 . Author phone conversation with ATF agent covering

Guatemala in March 2013.

der, between 106,700 and 426,729 rearms werepurchased annually to be tracked to Mexicorom 2010 to 2012.8 Furthermore, assault type

rearms, particularly the AK-47 and AR-15 vari-ants account or the majority o rearms in U.S.

prosecutions related to U.S. rearms trackingto Mexico.9 While the Mexican government has

assisted U.S. eforts to curb U.S. rearms tra-cking to Mexico by providing tens o thousands

o rearms trace requests in the last ew years,the new Mexican Administration o President

Enrique Pea Nieto appears to have slowed coop-eration with U.S. authorities on many cross-bor-

der rearms tracking issues.

In response to U.S. government concerns abouttransnational organized and local gang crime in

the northern triangle countries and their connec-tion with Mexico, the United States has been sup-

porting eforts to curb arms tracking to thesegroups. Following the introduction o e-race

(an Internet-based sotware to help trace theprovenance and last purchaser o U.S. rearms) in

Guatemala in 2008, AF placed an AF CentralAmerican Regional Firearms Advisor at the U.S.

Embassy in San Salvador, El Salvador to speci-cally address illicit arms tracking in Guatemala

and the sub-region. Te AF Advisor has helpedsupport the training o security service ocials toidentiy rearms and explosives as well as trace

rearms, including on e-race, throughout thesub-region. In 2010, AF also conducted assess-

8 . Topher McDougal, David A. Shirk, Robert Muggah and

John H. Patterson, Estimating Firearms Trafc Across theU.S.-Mexico Border, Igarape Insitute and the University

of San Diego Trans-Border Institute, March 2013.

9 . Violence Policy Center, Cross-Border Trafcking,

online at http://www.vpc.org/indicted.htm.
http://www.vpc.org/indicted.htmhttp://www.vpc.org/indicted.htm


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overviewof armed violenCein Guatemala

Although Guatemala ended its civil war in 1996,the country has continued to sufer high rateso armed violence, oten surpassing rates during

the civil war. According to the latest availablegures, there were 5,681 homicides recorded in

Guatemala in 2011.12 Tis overall total is slightlylower than the previous year and close to 15 per-

cent lower than 2009 when Guatemala recordedits highest level o homicides. Despite this reduc-

tion, recent studies indicate that Guatemala

continues to have one o the highest homicidelevels in Central America and the world.13 Forinstance, Guatemalas homicide rate or 2011

o 39 per 100,000 inhabitants is still above theCentral American sub-regions average o 29 vio-

lent deaths per 100,000 inhabitants and nearlythree times higher than Mexico.14 Furthermore,

rom 2004 to 2010, rearms were used to com-mit homicides in 81.7 percent o the cases, plac-

ing Guatemala with the highest average numbero homicides with rearms in the sub-region. By

comparison, rearms are used on average only 19percent o the time in Western Europe.15

Te main types o actors engaged in rearms

related violence in Guatemala as well as the wide-spread availability o arms, particularly illicitly

held arms, could help explain why rearms ea-

12 . Jorge A. Restrepo and Alonso Tobon Garcia,

Guatemala en la Encrucijada: Panorama de una violencia

transformada, Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence,

Executive Summary, Updated July 2012, online at http://bit.ly/14WybO9.

13. Ibid.

14 . Ibid. International Crisis Group, Guatemala: Drug

Trafcking and Violence, Latin American Report No. 39,

October 11, 2011, available online at http://bit.ly/nNXKzs.

15 . Restrepo and Garcia, Executive Summary.

ture so prominently in Guatemalan homicides.16

According to an AF assessment report related toarms tracking in Guatemala completed in late

2010, Guatemalan authorities told AF therewere 13 major drug organizations operating in

Guatemala, including three Mexican organizedcrime groups.17 In early 2009, ormer Guatemalan

President Alvaro Colom reportedly told journal-ists that an estimated 40 percent o Guatemalas

2008 homicides were related to drugs. He wenton to state that 26 percent o the drug violence

(o the 40 percent) occurred because o conron-tations between organized crime groups or con-

trol o land routes and the remaining 14 percentbecause o drug dealing in Guatemala.18

As the northernmost country o Central America,

Guatemala has been a transit route or drugsmuggling rom the Andes or many years.

Guatemalan organized crime groups such as theMendoza, Lorenzana, and Leon amilies have

long been heavily involved in using Guatemalaas a channel to smuggle contraband to Mexico.

Tese tracking routes were urther strengthenedas interdiction o drug smuggling through the

Caribbean increased in the 1990s, contributingto a shit in the ow o illicit drugs into Mexico

and through Central America and strengthening

16. Elisabeth Gilgen, A Fatal Relationship: Guns and

Deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean, Small Arms

Survey 2012: Moving Targets, Small Arms Survey, pages

32-43.

17. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

(ATF), Guatemala Small Arms Assessment: After-Action

Report, August 2010, page 27.

18 . Jorge A. Restrepo and Alonso Tobon Garcia,

Guatemala en la Encrucijada: Panorama de una vio-

lencia transformada, Geneva Declaration on Armed

Violence, Full Report, in Spanish, 2011, online at

http://bit.ly/14WybO9.


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Mexican organized crimes grip on drug distribu-tion in the United States. During this period,illicit drugs were oten transported directly to

Mexican territory via air and sea.

More recently, tracking routes began to shitagain towards Central America. Instead o large

air shipments o illicit drugs to Mexico, cocaine isincreasingly own in small loads on private planes

to remote areas o Honduras and Guatemala orup the Caribbean or Pacic coasts o Central

America in small sea vessels that are oten reload-ed onto other tracking vessels to continue mov-

ing towards the United States. Te crackdownon trackers by ormer Mexican President Felipe

Caldern was a second actor contributing to theincreased use o Central America as a tracking

route rom the Andes. Additionally, the break-down o a criminal alliance between Mexicos

Gul Cartel and the Zetas meant the Zetas need-ed to develop their own tracking networks rom

the Andes, through Central America and into theUnited States. o do so, the Zetas became partic-

ularly active in Guatemala where they developedties to existing groups, and in some important

instances pursued deadly operations against rivalgroups.

Known or extremely violent tactics in Mexico,the Zetas appear to have exported some o their

methods to Guatemala. In May 2011, orinstance, Zetas reportedly killed 27 arm work-

ers, including two women and three teenagers,in Los Cocos, Peten, Guatemala.19 Te attack

against the armers, who all came rom theGuatemalan state o Izabal where a competing

Guatemalan smuggling group is based, appeared

19 . International Crisis Group, Guatemala: Drug

Trafcking and Violence.

to be in some type o retaliation.20

Additionally,Guatemalan authorities have conscated a widearray o military and military-type weaponry,

including 40mm grenades, AR-15s, and AK-47s,associated with Zetas in Guatemala.21 In another

apparent Zeta attack, armed individuals report-edly killed 11 members o the Leon organization

on March 25, 2008 in Zacapa, Guatemala. U.S.authorities traced two Beretta 92FS 9mm pistols

ound at that crime scene or with the perpetra-tors to a McAllen, exas gun store.22 It appears

there is also a connection between known drugtracking routes and high homicide rates in

Guatemala. In 2011, or instance, the homiciderates or Guatemalas southwestern border state o

Zacapa, a key contraband route rom Hondurasto Guatemala, rose to 93 per 100,000 inhabit-

ants, now the highest in the country.23

While major organized crime organizations con-tribute to a signicant number o crimes, gang

related armed violence, sometimes connectedwith major organized crime groups, is also very

high. According to Guatemalas President OttoPerez Molina in February 2012, the main source

20. International Crisis Group, Guatemala: Drug

Trafcking and Violence.

21. Julie Lopez, Investigacion Sobre Traco Ilicito de

Armas de Fuego Y Municiones en Guatemala, September

2012, page 2.

22 . U.S. Department of Justice, Mission, Texas Man

Sentenced to Federal Prison for Possession of Machine

Gun, Press Release, May 14, 2010, online at http://1.

usa.gov/18qV3lk. Julie Lopez, The Zetas Bad Omen,

Organized Crime: Beyond Drug Trafcking, ReVista

Harvard Review of Law America, online at http://hvrd.

me/18qVcVI.

23. Restrepo and Garcia, Executive Summary.


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o violence in Guatemala is gangs.24

In 2007, theUnited Nations reportedly indicated that therewere 432 gangs with 14,000 gang members in the

country.25 Most o these gangs are locally basedwith memberships ranging rom 20 to 100 o

mostly young men.26 With roots in Los Angeles,transnational gangs such as theMara Salvatrucha

13 (MS-13) and the 18th Street Gang have grownin Guatemala with estimates o thousands o

members. Local and transnational gangs report-edly engage in armed violence or various reasons

ranging rom clashes or control o territory todisputes over micro-tracking o narcotics and

other contraband to extortion, kidnapping, andintimidation. Te MS-13 and 18th Street Gang

have also acted as hit-men or Mexican orga-nized crime groups and been involved in arms

tracking.27 Although assault-type ries havebeen seized rom various types o gang mem-

bers, it appears they preer to use pistols, whichis also the most common type o rearm seized in

Guatemala.28

Finally, the activities o various criminal net-works in Guatemala appear to be a large actor in

the armed violence in Guatemala which in turnis taking a toll on the countrys national secu-

rity and development. A recent study indicated

24. Lopez, Investigacion Sobre Traco Ilicito de Armas

de Fuego Y Municiones en Guatemala, page 5.

25. Restrepo and Garcia, Full Report, pages 94-95.

26. Ibid.

27. ATF, Guatemala Small Arms Assessment: After-

Action Report.

28 . Julie Lopez, Investigacion Sobre Trafco Ilicito de

Armas de Fuego Y Municiones en Guatemala, page 5.

United Nations Ofce of Drugs and Crime, Firearms

within Central America, in Transnational Organized

Crime in Central America and the Caribbean, September

2012.

that in 2008 the costs o violence in Guatemalareached 7.3 percent o the gross national product(GNP).29 Depending on the specic Guatemalan

state, the greatest economic burden related toarmed violence ranged rom health expenses to

a loss o nancial investment. According to thesame study, a high percentage o Guatemalans

expressed eelings o insecurity in their country.Despite this perception, however, 74.5 percent

o respondents indicated they elt rearm own-ership did not protect them or their amilies.30

Tis nding may result rom a realization thatalthough many people in Guatemala have a re-

arm, many people continue to see armed violenceagainst their neighbors and community members.

u.S. firearmS traffiCkinGto Guatemala

Analysis o AF race Data and Assessments

While illicitly held arms in Guatemala come

rom many sources, including Guatemalas closest

neighbors and Guatemalas own arms stockpiles,U.S. origin rearms appear to account or a signi-icant part o this source. In June and July 2009,

AF sent two teams o experts to review and tracetwo separate military bunkers in Guatemala, one

with rearms and the other with explosives andmilitary ordnance. According to the AF, the

military bunker they reviewed included gunsrecovered by Guatemalan law enorcement rom

Fiscal Year 2006 to Fiscal Year 2009 and con-nected to crimes such as homicides and illegal

possession o a rearm (oten an unregisteredgun) as well as guns slated or destruction.31 Te

29. Restrepo and Garcia, Executive Summary.

30 . Restrepo and Garcia, Full Report, page 78.

31. Author conversation with ATF Agent covering

Guatemala issues in March 2013.


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bunker also represented a small percentage o the

total number o rearms Guatemala had seizedat that time.32 In September 2009, AF com-

piled a report on rearm traces associated withGuatemala and based on AFs Firearm racing

System. Te report also included a ew previousrearm trace requests submitted by Guatemala,

as well as AFs own analysis o rearms oundat the Guatemalan military bunker. Tis report

concluded that 2,687 o the 6,000 rearms (40percent) associated with rearm traces rom

Guatemala had a nexus with the United States.33U.S. imported rearms accounted or 1,179 o

the 2,687 guns. A total o 2,512 rearms were ooreign manuacture without a connection to the

United States.34

Similar to other studies conducted on the maintypes o rearms seized in Guatemala, pistols

32 . According to the ATF Guatemala Small Arms

Assessment After-Action report, in 2010 Guatemala had

39,372 rearms undergoing civil and criminal proceed-

ings. While this is not the gure of total rearms seized, it

helps indicate that the 6,000 rearms is a small percentage

of the overall number of rearms Guatemala has seized

over the years. ATF, Guatemala Small Arms Assessment:

After-Action Report, page 15.

33. ATF, A Review of Firearms Traced that Indicated the

Guatemala Trace Project, page 3 and 15.

34. Ibid, page 15.

were the most popular type o the 6,000 rearms

recovered in Guatemala and traced by AF (seeChart 1 above). Te top three manuacturers

o all o the pistols associated with Guatemalatraces included Ceska Zbrojovka, Israel Military

Industries (IMI), and Daewoo whereas the topthree revolvers were Smith & Wesson, aurus,

and Armscor o the Philippines respectively.

Narrowing the data analysis to rearms with atime-to-crime35 o six years and less and with a

U.S. nexus, the Glock pistol o various calibersimported by Glock, Inc. o Smyrna, Georgia was

the most popular pistol and rearm type.36 Alsopopular with Mexican organized crime, the FN

Herstals Five-SeveN semi-automatic pistol wasound in several cases. Among the much smaller

percentage o ries recovered and traced with atime-to-crime o six years and less and with a U.S.nexus, the AR-15 type rie was the most popu-

lar, particularly the Bushmaster XM15 and theDoubleStar Inc., Star 15 model versions. AF

35 . Time-to-crime refers to the time when the rearm was

rst purchased in the United States until it was recovered

in Guatemala. As such, the data only relates to rearms in

which ATF was able to identify the rst purchaser in the

United States.

36. Based on an analysis of the raw ATF data of re-

arms recovered in Guatemala and traced by ATF as of

September 2009.


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also discovered 18 U.S.-origin rearms that wereoriginally part o U.S. military stocks.37

Based on a much smaller set o data because it relieson AF being able to trace the rearm to a rst pur-

chaser in the United States, AF trace data romSeptember 2009 showed exas, Caliornia, and

Florida as the top three U.S. source states (see able1 below).38 U.S. gun stores such as Backman Pawn

and Guns in Dallas, exas; Miami Police Supplyin Miami, Florida; and U.S. gun shows have been

specic sources within these states. While the lowdata set o 595 rearms makes it hard to determine

with any accuracy the relative percentage o rearmspurchased at various U.S. states that were recovered

in Guatemala, AF has indicated that this repre-sentation is similar to more recent analysis.39 As a

result, exas, Florida, Caliornia, Georgia, Kansas,Missouri, and Washington have been sources or

rearms recovered in Guatemala. Many o theseU.S. states have a large agriculture economy or a

large Guatemala-origin community. Tis patterndifers rom the trace data o U.S. rearms tracked

to Mexico where the majority o purchases occuralong the U.S. southern border.

According to interviews with ormer and current

AF agents, many individuals involved in smug-gling U.S. rearms to Guatemala appear to havesome type o Guatemalan connection beyond the

rearms.40 Tis could include Guatemala nation-als in the United States working in the U.S. agri-

culture sector as migrant workers, U.S. residents

37. ATF, A Review of Firearms Traced that Indicated the

Guatemala Trace Project, page 11.

38. Ibid, page 23.

39 . Author phone conversation with ATF Agent covering

Guatemalan issues in March 2013.

40 . Author phone conversation with former ATF Agent

covering Guatemala issues in March 2013.

or citizens with riends or relatives in Guatemala,or Mexicans that live near the Guatemalan border.While there have been several U.S. prosecutions

o individuals associated with rearms trackingto Guatemala with no other apparent Guatemalan

connection, AF has indicated they have receivedthousands o notices about Central American cit-

izens attempting to purchase arms in the UnitedStates who were stopped because o the FBIs 24

hour background checks at U.S. gun stores.41Some o the individuals with a Guatemalan con-

nection buy rearms in the United States or theirown use in Guatemala while others buy rearms

to sell on the black market in Guatemala, Mexico,or to supply criminal networks.42

As mentioned previously, Mexican criminal orga-

nizations such as the Zetas have used varioustypes o military ordnance in both Guatemala

and Mexico, which has raised questions abouttheir source. Invited by the Guatemalan National

Police to review military ordnance stored in theirevidence bunker conscated rom 1997 to 2009,

AF conducted an assessment o these items inJune 2009. O the 762 grenades and military

ordnance AF reviewed, nearly 85 percent canbe traced back to the Guatemalan militarys own

stockpiles.43 Based on AFs analysis o the lotnumbers o several o the grenades, they deter-mined that the Guatemalan military was likely the

source or the South Korean, Austrian, and theIsraeli made M26A2 grenades seized in Mexico.44

41 . Author phone conversation with former ATF Agent

covering Guatemala issues in March 2013 in March 2013.

42 . Ibid. Author phone conversation with current ATF

Agent covering Guatemalan issues in March 2013.

43. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives,

Trip Report Guatemalan Bunker Inventory, Explosives

Technology Branch, July 2009, page 11-14.

44. Ibid.


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Forty-six o the 762 ordnance ound were oU.S. origin ranging rom M26A2 and M67 hand

grenades to M406 40mm grenades or grenadelaunchers to a M72 Light Anti-ank Weapon

rocket. Except or the M72 rocket, which theUnited States sent to Colombia, most o the U.S.-

origin items were part o a U.S. Foreign MilitarySale (FMS) to El Salvador in the late 1980s and

early 1990s. According to AF, MS-13 gangmembers have been smuggling in these types

o ordnance rom El Salvador to Guatemala or

Mexican organized crime.45

Arms rafcking Routes and actics

Based on a review o related literature, U.S.prosecutions, and interviews with U.S. and

Guatemalan government ocials, there are someidentiable routes and tactics or U.S. rearms

tracking to Guatemala. Similar to U.S. rearmstracking to Mexico, the recruitment o indi-

viduals to buy rearms on behal o others, oth-

erwise known as straw purchasing, is a commontactic. In other cases, the purchasers have boughtrearms or themselves legally, but engaged in

tracking by crossing U.S. borders with the re-arm without proper authorization. wo main

45 . Ibid.

smuggling routes have emerged: 1) crossing U.S.,Mexican, and Guatemalan borders by land; and,

2) carrying rearms in checked luggage on com-mercial civilian passenger airplanes ying rom

the United States to Guatemala. Similar to U.S.origin ordnance, the majority o the U.S. military

arms such as M-16s showing up in Guatemalasseized arms appear to be related to U.S. arms

transers to Central American governments andU.S. backed Contras during the 1980s.

In order to avoid detection, individuals hiderearms in various shipments o merchandiseover land to Guatemala through Mexico. Ater

a weather-related truck accident in January 2009near the U.S. border with Mexico, or instance,

U.S. authorities discovered that one o the boxesin the debris heading to Guatemala contained

seven U.S. origin rearms, including ve Glockpistols, hidden in speakers.46 Te shipping com-

pany ransporte Zuletas, Inc. had allegedly leasedthe truck.47 In a similar case in 2008, Marvin

Acevedo allegedly smuggled FN Hertsal and46. United States District Court for the District of

Colorado, Application for Search Warrant, Case: 1:10-sw-

05482-KLM, November 9, 2010, accessed through

PACER.

47. Ibid.

Table 1: Top 10 U.S. Source States for Firearms Recovered in Guatemala and Traced by ATF

U.S. State Number of Firearms Purchased

Texas 192

California 94

Florida 92

Georgia 23

Arizona 17

Illinois 13

Alabama 12

Louisiana 12

Virginia 12

Oklahoma 10


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Glock pistols to Guatemala ater purchasing re-

arms at gun shows and gun stores by hiding themin shipping boxes with computers and clothes.48

In a case investigated by ICE in 2009, Julio CesarRojas-Lopez, a Guatemalan national, recruit-

ed several people, including a Nashville PoliceOcer, to buy rearms or him at ennessee

gun stores ater receiving details rom theLorenzana and Mendoza organized crime groups

in Guatemala about the specic weapons to pur-

chase.

49

Rojas-Lopez had previously smuggledU.S. rearms and ammunition out o the United

States by concealing them in vehicles he drove ortowed to Guatemala through Mexico.50

Although details are limited about these cases,

AF has indicated that individuals are smugglingrearms in their checked luggage aboard com-

mercial airplanes ying between the United Statesand Guatemala.51 Tere is also one known case

o U.S. rearms smuggling by sea. Regardingrearms smuggling by air, these individuals

chose U.S. airports where the examination o

48 . United States District Court for the Northern District

of Texas, Factual Resume, United States vs. Marvin O.

Acevedo, Case 3:08-cr-00097-K, November 4, 2008,

accessed through PACER.

49. U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Authorities

Announce The Indictment Of Four Guatemalan Nationals

And A Former Metro Nashville Police Ofcer On Charges

Of Smuggling Firearms To Guatemala, U.S. Attorney

Middle District of Tennessee, Press Release, October 27,

2009, online at http://1.usa.gov/Ynm5L4. United States

District Court Middle District of Tennessee, United States

vs. Julio Cesar Rojas-Lopez, Judgment, Case 3:09-00226-

01, May 10, 2011, accessed through PACER

50 .http://1.usa.gov/Ynm5L4

51. Phone conversation with former ATF Agent covering

Guatemalan issues in March 2013.

checked luggage is less tight.52 Once they land

in Guatemala, they may either nd a way tocontinue to smuggle the rearms into the coun-

try or they may legally register the rearm.53 InAugust 2012, Guatemalan authorities discov-

ered at the Port o Quetzal a container rom theUnited States with no content description. When

Guatemalan authorities opened the container,they ound more than a dozen boxes o ammuni-

tion, mostly .357 Magnum caliber ammunition,

as well as drums and barrels o black powder andan ammunition reloading machine.54

U.S. rearms tracking to Guatemala has also

been linked to irresponsible U.S. gun store own-ers. In response to a tip rom a condential

inormant about Victor Needlemans, the ownero American Range and Gun Shop in Pembroke

Park, Florida, use o straw purchasers, AF beganan investigation into his activities in 2008.55 AF

discovered that Needleman encouraged purchas-ers that had ailed a background check to nd a

relative to buy the weapon or them. U.S. author-ities also learned that several rearms originating

rom the American Range and Gun Shop wereused in a shootout between drug-related criminal

networks in Guatemala in which several peoplewere killed.56

52. Ibid.

53. Phone conversation with ATF Agent covering

Guatemala issues in March and April 2013.

54. Julie Lopez, Investigacion Sobre Trafco Ilicito de

Armas de Fuego Y Municiones en Guatemala, page 135-

136.

55. United States District Court Southern District of

Florida, United States vs. Victor Needleman, Complaint,

Case 0:08-cr-60144-WPD, April 4, 2008, accessed

through PACER.

56 . Ibid.
http://1.usa.gov/Ynm5L4http://1.usa.gov/Ynm5L4


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u.S. firearmS traffiCkinGto mexiCo

In the last ew years, there have been several

in-depth studies o U.S. rearms tracking toMexico, including by this author in June 2010

and April 2011. While there have been someminor changes, the nature o rearms tracking

has remained relatively constant. Mexico contin-ues to see high levels o violence and crime with

rearms. Te total number o individuals killedin connection with organized crime ranges rom

47,000 to more than 70,000 people with thou-sands more disappeared rom 2006 to 2012.57

While the national homicide rate is considerablylower in Mexico compared to Guatemala, the rate

in some specic Mexican states shows a diferentstory. In Chihuahua, or instance, close to the

U.S. border, the homicide rate rose more thanveold rom 2007 to 2010.58 In the last twoyears, it is clear violence has remained at high lev-

els throughout Mexico with 22,480 homicides in2011 and 20,560 in 2012. A relatively high per-

centage o these homicides are committed withrearms.59

Tanks to a relatively large share o rearm trace

requests sent to AF by the Mexican governmentin the last ew years, the United States has received

inormation critical to curbing U.S. rearms tra-cking to Mexico. In particular, timely trace

requests sent to AF provide them with the intel-

57. International Crisis Group, Pea Nietos Challenge:

Criminal Cartels and Rule of Law in Mexico, Latin

American Report No. 48, March 19, 2013, page 1, online

at http://bit.ly/15Y4clX.

58. Elisabeth Gilgen, A Fatal Relationship: Guns and

Deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean, pages 16-17.

59.International Crisis Group, Pea Nietos Challenge:

Criminal Cartels and Rule of Law in Mexico.

ligence needed to halt criminal networks involved

in rearms smuggling to Mexico. Based on themost recently available data, AF determined

that 68,000 U.S.-origin rearms were recoveredat crime scenes in Mexico rom 2007 to 2011.60

Despite the strong past cooperation betweenU.S. and Mexican authorities on rearms tracing,

the new Mexican administration has been slowto submit rearm trace requests to AF. While

this may simply be the result o new leadership

personnel amiliarizing themselves with ongoinggovernment projects, U.S. ocials have indicated

that they have seen a worrisome lack o action ontracing and other law enorcement matters related

to rearms tracking.

New data analysis on rearm-types and U.S. sourcestates reinorces earlier accounts. According to a

study by the Violence Policy Center that keeps arunning tab on the types o rearms involved in

U.S. prosecutions related to U.S. rearms tra-cked to Mexico since 2006, 2,518 o the total

4,813 rearms were assault-type ries.61 TeAK-47 variant was the most popular with 1,602

rearms. Te second and third largest categorieswere pistols (830) and other ries (495) respec-

tively. Oten receiving little attention, U.S. pros-ecutions related to U.S. rearms tracking to

Mexico also include 225,423 rounds o rearmsammunition. For more details on other popular

types o rearms in U.S. prosecutions, see Chart2 above. Other researchers have also reportedly

ound that the U.S. border states with the highest

60 . Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives,

ATF Releases Government of Mexico Firearms Trace

Data, Press Release, April 2012, online at http://1.usa.

gov/JsYV9K.

61 . Violence Policy Center, Cross-Border Trafcking,

online at http://www.vpc.org/indicted.htm.
http://1.usa.gov/JsYV9Khttp://1.usa.gov/JsYV9Khttp://www.vpc.org/indicted.htmhttp://www.vpc.org/indicted.htmhttp://1.usa.gov/JsYV9Khttp://1.usa.gov/JsYV9K


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per capita exporting o crime guns to Mexico (e.g.Arizona, New Mexico, and exas) had export

rates our times that o Caliornia.62

In another more recent U.S. prosecution involv-ing allegations against a licensed U.S. gun store

owner, the U.S. Department o Justice led anindictment against Robert Jacaman Sr., owner

o Jacaman Guns and Ammo in Laredo, exasas well as several other deendants on August 14,

2012. Te indictment alleges that Jacaman andother individuals conspired to acquire and illegal-

ly export thousands o rounds o ammunition and

high capacity magazines to Mexico rom Januaryto July 2012.63 While the case against Jacamanis still pending, several alleged co-conspirators o

Jacaman Sr. pleaded guilty to straw purchasing.64

Responding to a need to address challenges inidentiying potential rearms trackers and in

U.S. prosecutions o straw purchasers, the U.S.

62 . Ibid.

63. United States District Court Southern District of Texas

Laredo Division, United States vs. Robert Jacaman Sr. and

other defendants, Indictment, Case L-12-0750, August 14,

2012, access online using PACER.

64 . United States District Court Sourthern District of

Texas Laredo Division, Five Plead Guilty to Federal

Firearms Charges, Press Release, online at http://1.usa.

gov/ZAoP6A.

government made two positive changes in 2011.Starting on July 11, 2011, or instance, U.S. gun

stores and other licensed dealers operating inU.S. states along the U.S.-Mexican border must

now report to AF whenever they make multi-ple sales o more than one rie within ve con-

secutive business days to an unlicensed person.65Gun stores must only report on rearms that are

(1) semiautomatic, (2) chambered or ammuni-tion o greater than .22 caliber, and (3) capable

o accepting a detachable magazine. It appearsAF is already receiving these helpul reports. As

o October 2011, it collected 502 multiple rie

sales reports involving 1,276 rearms rom U.S.gun stores in Caliornia, Arizona, New Mexico,or exas.66

In recognition that the overwhelming major-

ity o deendants convicted o straw purchasingreceived less than one year in prison, and that

these relatively light sentences were a disincen-tive to prosecute cases involving rearms track-

ing to Mexico, the U.S. Sentencing Commissiontook action in 2011.67 According a U.S. Attorney

65 . William J. Krouse, Gun Control Policy,

Congressional Research Service, RL32842, November 14,

2012, pages 48-52.

66 . Ibid. page 51.

67 . U.S. Department of Justice Inspector General, Review

of ATFs Project Gunrunner, November 2010, online at


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General Memorandum, the U.S. SentencingCommission in 2011 increased the base ofenselevel rom 12 to 14 so that straw purchasers have

the same base ofense level as a straw purchaserconvicted o knowingly distributing a rearm

or ammunition to a prohibited person.68 WhileAF ocials working on U.S. rearms track-

ing to Mexico say this was a welcome sign, theyhave also indicated that the increase was relatively

minor.69 As a result, they are still experiencingsignicant challenges in curbing straw purchasing

and other related crimes.

ConCluSionand reCommendationS

As the above cases and analysis on U.S. rearmstracking to Guatemala and Mexico make evi-

dent, both countries share many similar chal-lenges in tackling the vexing problem o re-

arms tracking. A key challenge or Guatemalais increasing the number o trace requests sent

to AF. Ater AF trained 56 Guatemalannational crime laboratory staf in February 2013,

Guatemalan authorities are sending over 100rearm trace requests a month to AF.70 Tis

is a promising development. It is hoped thatGuatemala will also begin to trace some o the

rearms it has seized in 2010 and 2011.

o continue to assist Guatemala with tracing and

other aspects related to arms tracking, AF

http://www.justice.gov/oig/reports/ATF/e1101.pdf .

68. Eric H. Holder Jr., Memorandum to all United States

Attorneys, Ofce of the U.S. Attorney General, June 13,2011.

69. Author interview with ATF ofcials in Washington,

DC in February 2013.

70 . Author conversation with ATF Agent covering

Guatemala issues in March 2013.

should consider continuing to und the cur-rent AF post o the Regional Firearms Advisorin El Salvador and und a new permanent AF

post in Guatemala. Te Regional Advisor playsan important role in collecting inormation and

helping address the many country specic andcross-border arms tracking issues in the sub-

region. Adding a new AF post to the U.S.Embassy in Guatemala could also provide needed

technical assistance to Guatemalan authorities tosolve gun crimes and tracing, including recover-

ing deaced serial numbers on rearms.

Meanwhile, the Mexican government has provid-ed the U.S. with large numbers o helpul trace

requests in the last ew years, but recent signs oinaction on tracing are o concern.

Similar to U.S. rearm tracking to many des-

tinations in the United States and across U.S.borders, the use o straw purchasers has been a

important tactic used in U.S. rearms trackingto Guatemala and Mexico. In several o the above

U.S. prosecutions related to U.S. rearms tra-cking to Guatemala, straw purchasers received

very low sentences such as probation or no morethan ve months in prison. While the U.S.

Sentencing Commission made a small increase inpenalties or straw purchasing, these have provento be an insucient incentive or U.S. Attorneys

to accept more cases and to use these increasedsentences as leverage with criminals to encourage

greater cooperation and seek plea bargain agree-ments that result in additional convictions. As

such, the U.S. government should consider leg-islation to increase penalties or straw purchasing

and decrease some o the unnecessary burdens inproving such crimes. Tere are several propos-

als currently being discussed in the U.S. Congressthat seek to address this challenge.
http://www.justice.gov/oig/reports/ATF/e1101.pdfhttp://www.justice.gov/oig/reports/ATF/e1101.pdf


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Although there are relatively ew known cases inwhich individuals attempting to smuggle arms

to Guatemala have purchased their arms at U.S.gun shows instead o U.S. gun stores, this loop-

hole poses a challenge to curbing arms trackingto Guatemala. As indicated above, AF agents

stationed in the northern triangle countries havereceived thousands o reports o Central American

nationals attempting to buy rearms rom U.S.gun stores, but were denied because they ailed a

background check. In many U.S. states, includ-ing those popular with U.S. rearms tracking

to Guatemala, individuals do not have to pass abackground check to buy arms with private sellersat gun stores.

In addition to U.S. unding or an AF post in

Guatemala, the U.S. government should also con-sider continuing to und arms destruction activi-

ties in Guatemala through the U.S. Departmento States Weapons Removal and Abatement

(WRA) oce. Tis would help mitigate oppor-tunities or diversion o U.S. arms among

Guatemalas military stockpiles. According toone estimate in 2010, at least 27,000 arms have

leaked rom Guatemalas military stockpiles tocriminal networks in Guatemala and Mexico.71

Reducing the number o Guatemalas surplus re-arms, at seven rearms per soldier in 2010, would

signicantly assist in this efort. Recognizing thisact, the Department o States WRA has sup-

ported arms destruction activities in Guatemala;however, this unding has only been used so ar

71 . Nick Miroff and William Booth, Mexican Drug

Cartels Newest Weapons: Cold-War era Grenades

Made in US, Washington Post, July 17, 2010, online at

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/arti-

cle/2010/07/16/AR2010071606252.html.

to destroy munitions and propellants that pose anurgent saety risk. Additional unding is neededto destroy the surplus rearms.

As the U.S. government and U.S. policy commu-

nity is still in the relatively early stages o under-standing U.S. rearms tracking to Mexico and

Central America, there are several areas that theabove brie has highlighted that could benet

rom urther research. In particular, it would behelpul to conduct more research on U.S. re-

arms tracking to Guatemala using shipping andreight orwarding companies by land and sea.

Furthermore, additional research on trackingdynamics in and between the U.S., Mexico andthe rest o Central America would be useul.

In particular, there may be ways o assessing mari-

time tracking by targeting suspicious shippingcompanies with questionable deliveries to Central

America. Likewise, the use o commercial civil-ian aircrat to smuggle rearms rom the United

States to Mexico and the ability to register therearm in Guatemala without showing proo o

purchase in the United States is another area thatwould benet rom urther research.

As the tracing data comes in rom Guatemala,

AF will likely have more details in the nearuture about many o the aspects o U.S. re-

arms tracking to Guatemala that are cur-rently unknown. Further research on this issue

should be conducted ater this data is collected.However, action to curb U.S. rearms tracking

to Guatemala should not wait to tackle the prob-lem o straw purchases and the gun show loop-

hole as the above report only provides anotherreason to immediately improve regulatory eforts

in these areas.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/16/AR2010071606252.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/16/AR2010071606252.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/16/AR2010071606252.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/16/AR2010071606252.html


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aBoutthe author

Colby Goodman is an independent consultant engaged in research and advocacy on many conventional arms export

control issues. In June 2010, he led research and writing on one o the most comprehensive studies on U.S. rearms tra-

cking to Mexico entitled U.S. Firearms Trafcking to Mexico: New Data and Insights Illuminate Key Trends and Challenges.

In April 2011, he wrote an update to this report, and in June 2011 testied beore a special hearing on the issue with

the U.S. House o Representatives Government Reorm and Oversight Committee. From late 2011 to early 2013, Mr.

Goodman was the Deputy Director or the United Nations Oce o Disarmament Afairs Regional Center based in ogo,

Arica. Prior to the UN post, he worked or several civil society organizations as a researcher and advocate on arms control

issues and has been widely quoted and published in major U.S. media. He holds a Masters degree in International Policy

Studies with a ocus on security and development rom the Monterey Institute o International Studies and currently lives

in Washington, DC. He can be reached at [email protected].

Tis paper was commissioned and edited by Eric L. Olson, Senior Program Associate o the Latin American

Program. We would like to thank Meredith Pierce or her invaluable research contribution and her assistance in

reviewing, and editing this paper. Te Latin American Program would also like to thank Vernica Coln-Rosario or

her assistance reviewing and ormatting this publication.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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