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U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). 2021 ‘Findings.’ Firearms Trafficking U.S. Efforts to Disrupt Gun Smuggling into Mexico Would Benefit from Additional Data and Analysis. Washington DC: U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). 22 February

Relevant contents

What GAO Found

The ATF found that 70 percent of firearms reported to have been recovered in Mexico from 2014 through 2018 and submitted for tracing were U.S. sourced.

However, ATF does not receive complete data about thousands of firearms, such as those recovered by Mexican states, because only Mexico's federal Attorney General's office submits trace requests to ATF. In addition, the DHS's ICE has identified smuggling trends by analyzing DHS data on 1,012 firearms seized in the U.S. by DHS agencies. However, ICE has not analyzed ATF data on 56,000 U.S. firearms recovered in Mexico. Additional data and analysis could enhance U.S. efforts to understand firearms sources and smuggling routes.

- In April 2020, ATF established Operation Southbound to coordinate with other agencies to disrupt firearms trafficking to Mexico. ATF also conducts investigations related to Mexico.

- In fiscal year 2020, ICE and DHS's U.S. CBP established a joint operation to intercept firearms being smuggled to Mexico. ICE and CBP also conduct other efforts related to this issue. For example, in fiscal years 2015 through 2017, ICE-led taskforces seized 1,104 firearms along the southwest border. In fiscal years 2014 through 2019, CBP seized an annual average of 115 firearms at the border, and in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2020, CBP increased outbound inspection at some ports of entry and seized 321 firearms.

- The Department of State (State) helps lead a working group to coordinate these and other U.S. efforts with the government of Mexico. State also provided $54 million in fiscal years 2015 through 2019 to help build Mexico's capacity to disrupt trafficking through, for example, forensics training, inspection equipment, and canines trained for weapons detection.

- However, none of the agencies have fully developed performance measures for their efforts to disrupt firearms trafficking to Mexico, and thus they have limited ability to assess progress. Identifying performance measures—including goals, indicators, targets, and time frames—would enhance their ability to optimize the use of U.S. government resources to address this threat to U.S. national security.

ATF = Department of Justice's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
CBP = U.S. Customs and Border Protection
DHS = Department of Homeland Security's
ICE = U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

ID: Q14239

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