EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The U.S. and Mexico are working closer than ever to trace the origin of guns used in drug cartel massacres and other crimes south of the border. The number of gun trace requests from the Mexican government went up 25% in just two years — 2021 to 2023 — according to a Jan. 8 report by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Only about a third of the 71,277 requests conclusively led to a U.S. purchaser. But information gleaned from those computer database “hits” allowed U.S. investigators to conclude 76% of those guns were sold in Southwest border states. Most ended up in crime scenes in Mexican provinces besieged by transnational criminal organizations. “Data shows the seriousness of the issue, as these firearms were not part of lawful exports but rather purchased in the U.S. and subsequently unlawfully trafficked out and recovered in a crime in Mexico,” the report states. “Further, 82 percent of traced crime guns were recovered in a Mexican state with a dominate cartel presence.” Juarez police officer charged with killing US citizen The trafficked guns primarily were 9mm pistols, .22-caliber handguns, AK-47-style 7.62mm calibers and variants of the AR-15 rifle. Most were typically sold at retail firearm stores, pawn shops and directly from the manufacturer, according to the report. The largest number of them were seized by Mexican authorities from the scene of a crime in Sonora, Baja California, Chihuahua, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, Guanajuato, Michoacan, Zacatecas, Jalisco and Sinaloa. “The (Drug Enforcement Administration) identified two cartels with a dominant presence in Mexico: the Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel,” the report states. “Overall, 82 percent of crime guns were recovered in a Mexican state with a dominant presence of both or either cartel.” Ex-Zetas sentenced in massacre of 72 migrants Further research has allowed authorities to identify gun trafficking pipelines from individual U.S. states to specific Mexican provinces. More than 1,600 guns went from Arizona to crime scenes in Sonora from 2022 to 2023. Almost 1,200 traced to Texas ended up in Tamaulipas, where the Gulf cartel and the Northeast cartel are fighting in Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo for control of drug routes and migrant trafficking into the United States. Tren de Aragua gang linked to murder of immigration agent Another 1,158 guns sold in Texas turned up at scenes of violence in Nuevo Leon; 831 in Chihuahua; and 831 in Guanajuato. “Texas is the source state for all but one identified pipeline. All (gun) recovery states are located along the U.S.-Mexico border except one: Guanajuato,” the ATF report states. (But) “the Arizona to Sonora pipeline is the most dominant, accounting for 1,618 crime guns.” The politics of gun smuggling The trafficking of firearms from the U.S. to Mexico remains a politically sensitive issue. The Mexican government in 2021 sued U.S. gun manufacturers claiming they know their firearms are being used to commit crimes in Mexico. A federal district judge dismissed the lawsuit a year later, but an appeals court in Boston later ruled it could proceed. The manufacturers are asking the Supreme Court to overturn the appeals court ruling. And a federal judge has removed some of the defendants from the suit. Mexico’s president offers sarcastic response to Trump’s ‘Gulf of America’ comment Mexico in 2022 also sued a handful of Arizona gun dealers on similar premises. A federal judge in Arizona is considering the lawsuit. Law enforcement experts have told Border Report vastly different gun laws and gun culture put the two nations at odds. Mexico severely restricts the sale and use of firearms by civilians, whereas the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees Americans the right to bear arms.   The cartels exploit this disparity by hiring American citizens to make “straw purchases” of guns in the U.S. that are then smuggled to Mexico, according to the lawsuits. Gun dealers tighten control over sales In its report this week, the ATF reports some progress when it comes to guns sold at retail dealerships ending up in Mexico. ATF gun graphic. Twelve percent fewer so-called Type 1 dealer guns were recovered in Mexico in 2023 compared to 2017. Guns sold at pawn shops later found in Mexican crime scenes remained “relatively stable” during the same period, while those being procured directly from a manufacturer are up 13%, per the report. In addition, ATF reports 1,011 investigations stateside involving 1,791 U.S. guns that are believed would have ended up in Mexico. Visit the BorderReport.com homepage for the latest exclusive stories and breaking news about issues along the U.S.-Mexico border “In most instances, these interdicted firearms were recovered during law enforcement operations in which probable cause was developed, allowing the seizure of the (guns) as evidence,” the report states. For more information, visit the ATF website.