Mexico files new lawsuit accusing Arizona gun dealers of weapons trafficking

Record ID: 1692754

  • Title: Mexico files new lawsuit accusing Arizona gun dealers of weapons trafficking
  • Date: 11th October 2022
  • Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (OCTOBER 10, 2022) (REUTERS) FOREIGN AFFAIRS SECRETARY’S BUILDING FOREIGN AFFAIRS SECRETARY’S LEGAL ADVISER, ALEJANDRO CELORIO, SPEAKING DURING THE INTERVIEW (NOT A SOUNDBITE) CELORIO TALKING TO REPORTER DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOREIGN AFFAIRS SECRETARY’S LEGAL ADVISER, ALEJANDRO CELORIO, SAYING: “So the complaint alleges these five companies, that we saw in these five dealers, they knowingly and recklessly sell firearms, military-style weapons to the straw purchaser. What is a straw purchaser? It’s somebody that buys a firearm but it’s not for his or her own use. That person will buy it and then, give it to criminals and criminal organizations. There’s traceability information that shows that those weapons were sold, that weapons that have been found in criminal scenes in Mexico, were sold in those corporations we’re suing today.” CELORIO TALKING TO A REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOREIGN AFFAIRS SECRETARY’S LEGAL ADVISER, ALEJANDRO CELORIO, SAYING: “Before this lawsuit, I believe the general public in the United States didn’t know their weapons ended in hands of criminals in Mexico. They complain about the arm violence in Mexico but they didn’t know their weapons came from the same trade that exists within the U.S. border. It is extremely positive that more and more people and decision-makers in the United States understand that what could be legal in the United States in terms of the arms trade is causing us to harm here in Mexico.” CELORIO TALKING TO REPORTER DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOREIGN AFFAIRS SECRETARY’S LEGAL ADVISER, ALEJANDRO CELORIO, SAYING: “So I think the conversation allows now, around both flows of migrants and firearms, allows to understand it’s not just about customs or borders or infrastructure to stop the flow. It’s a matter of looking at the root causes and the origin of this flows to actually and effectively stopping them.” CELORIO SHAKING HANDS WITH REPORTER
  • Embargoed: 25th October 2022 04:06
  • Keywords: Arms Lawsuit Mexico
  • Location: MEXICO CITY AND CULIACAN, SINALOA, MEXICO
  • City: MEXICO CITY AND CULIACAN, SINALOA, MEXICO
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Crime,South America / Central America
  • Reuters ID: LVA001134711102022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Mexico's government filed a lawsuit against five Arizona gun dealers on Monday (October 10) accusing them of participating in illicit weapons trafficking, a Mexican official told Reuters, in an ongoing push to hold retailers responsible for the deadly trade.
    Mexican leaders have for years blasted illegal arms smuggling from the United States, with military-style guns often turning up at deadly crime scenes in the country.
    The new lawsuit follows the dismissal by a federal judge in late September of a historic $10 billion lawsuit filed by Mexico against U.S. gun manufacturers seeking to hold them responsible for facilitating the trafficking of weapons to drug cartels.
    Legal adviser Alejandro Celorio told Reuters in an interview that the new lawsuit, filed in federal court in Arizona, focuses on "straw" sales of firearms to customers who purchase them for someone else.
    The lawsuit, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, names as defendants Sprague's Sports Inc; SnG Tactical, LLC; Diamondback Shooting Sports, Inc; Lone Prairie, LLC, D/B/A Hub Target Sports; and Ammo A-Z, LLC.
    "Each defendant knowingly participates in trafficking guns into Mexico," according to the lawsuit, which accuses the dealers of violating the U.S. anti-racketeering law known as RICO.
    SnG Tactical and Sprague's Sports declined to comment. The other dealers did not respond to requests for comment.
    All the retailers named as defendants are based in the southwestern U.S. state of Arizona, which borders northern Mexico's Sonora state.
    Mexico is appealing the dismissal by a federal judge in Boston of the $10 billion lawsuit filed last year. Mexico has said it will go up to the U.S. Supreme Court.
    In the Arizona lawsuit, the Mexican government asks that the defendants be required to implement measures to prevent arms trafficking, monitor sales and pay damages to the government.
    Celorio said Mexico's legal strategy was working "as a whole" and that the first lawsuit has already changed public opinion on both sides of the border.
    (Production: Josue Gonzalez, Carlos Carrillo, Anna Portella)
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