Tijuana, August 2. It's difficult for Mexican authorities to combat arms smuggling because they are brought into the country through difficult-to-reach places, where there are no authorities, said the newly appointed commander of the Second Military Zone, Ulises Orduña Campos.
During the ceremony to destroy more than a thousand weapons seized from criminal groups, he admitted that "it's difficult to seize weapons coming from the United States to here because they don't do it because of the authorities. I think customs are the least used places for arms trafficking because we have metal detector equipment there. They see the shape, detect the weapon, and immediately seize it."
Instead, he said that "a drug tunnel is for coming and going and can bring in people, drugs, weapons, money, and everything." He also mentioned mountainous areas, which are difficult for military forces to access. Although he clarified that he doesn't have a figure for the weapons brought in from the United States, he affirmed that "we know that most of the weapons come from there."
In that regard, he admitted that they don't track the origin because "I think it would be extra work."
This Tuesday, more than 1,300 confiscated weapons were destroyed—of which 304 are long and the rest short—in addition to 1,022 magazines and 14,287 rounds of ammunition.
