MEXICO CITY, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Approximately 75 percent of the more than 10,000 illegal weapons seized in Mexico between October 2024 and April 2025 came from the United States, Mexican Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection Omar Garcia Harfuch said Thursday.
Since launching Operation Northern Border on Feb. 5, authorities have seized 2,627 firearms, more than 416,000 cartridges and 13,000 magazines, the official said when presenting the results of a security report during the government's daily morning press conference.
Mexican authorities have long urged Washington to strengthen efforts against the relentless southbound flow of American-bought firearms -- so vast that Mexico dubs it the "Iron River," with some 250,000 guns smuggled across the border each year.
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, roughly 70 percent of the weapons traced from Mexican crime scenes between 2014 and 2018 originated in the United States.
Most recently, as the United States ramps up efforts to curb drug trafficking, Mexican leaders have likewise intensified calls for joint operations to stem the tide of high-powered firearms.
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and other agencies to intensify efforts against arms trafficking at the Mexican border. ■