U.S. Authorities Seize Thousands of Firearms Bound for Mexican Cartels

Washington, D.C. — U.S. federal authorities announced they have prevented thousands of firearms and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition from reaching Mexican territory so far in 2025, as part of actions against illegal trafficking to criminal organizations.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) released the figures, detailing seizures from both criminal investigations and targeted operations against smuggling networks.

According to the U.S. agency’s official tally, 4,359 firearms and 648,975 rounds of ammunition were destined to cross the border into Mexico.

Investigations indicate the weaponry was intended for delivery to various cartels and violent organized crime groups operating in different Mexican regions.

These confiscations are part of a broader total: since January, the ATF has seized 36,277 firearms linked to illicit activities and 2,317,999 rounds of ammunition in the possession of gangs and suppliers associated with transnational criminal organizations.

ATF Deputy Director Robert Cekada emphasized in a detailed report that firearms trafficking cannot be considered a phenomenon limited to the border region.

He explained that the flow of illegal weaponry increasingly originates from various points across the country, making the problem a national issue. “It is not solely a situation of the southwestern border; it is a threat that involves the entire United States,” the official stated while presenting the report.

U.S. authorities maintain they have intensified operations to identify intermediaries, dismantle supply cells, and prosecute those who facilitate the illegal purchase and movement of weaponry.

The strategy, they indicated, aims to cut supply chains at their source and weaken the substantial firepower capacity of criminal organizations.

In parallel, the Mexican government, through the Secretariat of National Defense, has detected at least four recurring corridors for firearms trafficking.

Among them are routes connecting California with Tijuana; Arizona with Nogales; New Mexico with Ciudad Juárez; and Texas with Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa, and Matamoros. These pathways concentrate a significant portion of smuggling attempts seeking to supply criminal groups south of the border.

Both governments maintain cooperation mechanisms and information exchange to curb the illegal flow of weaponry, considered a key factor in violence linked to organized crime in the region.