Carlos Ricart warns that without controlling illegal arms trafficking from the U.S., it will be impossible to prevent new leaders, like the one potentially following ‘El Mencho’, from emerging in Mexico's drug trade.
Carlos Ricart, a professor and researcher at the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas in Mexico, highlights the severe issue of illegal arms trafficking from the United States to Mexico, where approximately 145,000 weapons enter the country annually, equating to around 400 firearms every day. In a recent interview, he emphasized that the continuation of this unregulated flow of weapons is a critical factor that will contribute to the rise of new drug lords in the wake of the death of Nemesio Oseguera, known as 'El Mencho', the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
Ricart's comments were made during the program EntreDichos, aired by El Financiero Bloomberg, where he discussed themes from his book titled 'La violencia vino del norte' (The violence came from the north), which brings attention to arms trafficking as the primary driver of rampant violence in Mexico. He pointed out that since the initiation of the war against drug trafficking in 2006 by former President Felipe Calderón, there has been little progress in resolving issues related to arms trafficking, which coincided with a time when gun production and sales regulations in the U.S. were relaxed.
To underscore the problem, Ricart mentioned that he has documented cases of individuals trafficking hundreds of firearms into Mexico, with some carrying as many as 800 weapons in single transactions. Without addressing the underlying issue of arms proliferation, he argues that it is inevitable that more powerful individuals will fill the void left by drug lords like Mencho, perpetuating a cycle of violence and instability in Mexico's ongoing struggle against drug-related crime.
