No, not the NGO cartels. The Mexican army.

REPORT: Mexican Army Loses 30% of Weapons Purchased from U.S.
Mexico’s Army (SEDENA) is losing approximately 30 percent of weapons purchased from the U.S., a report from Mexican journalist Carlos Loret De Mola revealed. The report comes as Mexico’s federal government litigates against firearm manufacturers in a U.S. court, blaming them for the raging cartel violence.

Those missing weapons are showing up in crime scenes. Mexico’s military has also allegedly misplaced weapons bought from Germany, Australia, Italy, Romania, Spain, and Belgium.

In Mexico, the Army is the only entity that can purchase weapons from other countries. Further, all weapons bought by federal, state, and local law enforcement, as well as private citizens, are sold by SEDENA.

“Losing.” Does that include Los Zetas army members deserting with army gear? Blackmarket sales? 30% of the thousands of weapons the Mexican army buys from the US every year is a pretty big number.

Keep this in mind when you hear claims that 70% of the crime guns in Mexico are traced back to the US*, with the unsubstantiated implication that freelance traffickers are getting them from retail gun stores. One would hard-pressed to find affordable — transferrable, yet cheaper than what SEDENA pays for approved bulk purchases — assault rifles, heavy machine guns, or grenade launchers in retail gun stores.

Those links suggest that full-auto AK-47s are becoming the preferred cartel assault rifle. I think they can find other places where such are more readily available, and a heck of a lot cheaper, than American gun shops.

* It’s also worth noting that figure was really only @70% of recovered guns that the Mexican thought came from the US and were even worth trying to trace. Maybe they should just run those serial numbers against their own SEDENA purchase lists.