Los Zetas and the Gun Laws that Help Them Thrive

[Judi Lynn]

Los Zetas and the Gun Laws that Help Them Thrive
Saturday, 7 August 2010, 1:52 pm
Press Release: Council on Hemispheric Affairs
In the Wrong Hands: Los Zetas and the Gun Laws that Help Them Thrive
by COHA Research Associate Devin Parsons

It is possible for terror to originate from a recognized symbol of power, safety, and strength. When a manifestation of all that is good betrays the trust bestowed upon it and becomes instead an agent of destruction, ruthlessness, and brutality, the fear it generates is far greater than if it had been regarded as evil all along. Unfortunately, one of the ultimate examples of this form of deception thrives in the chaos of the drug world. In Mexico, this terror is known by a name rarely spoken above a chilling whisper: Los Zetas.

Emerging as one of the most dangerous byproducts of the drug trade, Los Zetas’ existence represents a profound threat to the U.S. as well as to their country of origin. Not only does the U.S. keep Los Zetas in business with its insatiable appetite for drugs, but it also blindly puts guns in the hands of these killers. Since 2006, 28,000 individuals have lost their lives to this hemispheric catastrophe, a huge jump from the 23,000 reported in June of this year. With such an astronomically increasing death toll, drastic action needs be taken – and fast. Mexican President Felipe Calderón has taken the recent step of proposing a debate to consider the pros and cons of drug legalization. As for the U.S., it is critical that it finally takes responsibility for its role as a gun supplier to the drug trafficking industry. Of the tens thousands who have died at the hands of drug violence, many of these victims’ last visions were of a U.S.-made or U.S.-imported semi-automatic assault rifle.

The Dark Side

“Imagine a band of U.S. Green Berets going rogue and offering their services and firepower to drug cartels,” writes CNN’s Michael Ware, offering an accurate comparison to the manner in which Los Zetas formed. The original Zeta members began as a segment of the Mexican Army’s special operations’ unit called el Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales (GAFE). Like the U.S. Army Special Forces, GAFE personnel are rigorously trained by international experts in all the highly specialized areas of military tactics. In recent years, their objective has been to mobilize against the country’s extensive Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs). Now, however, many of them have switched sides.

It all started in the late 1990s, when Osiel Cardenas Guillen, leader of the expansive and powerful Gulf Cartel, acquired the partnership of GAFE Lieutenant Arturo Guzman Decenas. Guzman was soon joined by thirty other GAFE deserters, all of whom were enticed by the lucrative potential of the drug market. The ex-GAFE members branded themselves Los Zetas after the radio code “Z” assigned to high-level officials in the Mexican Army. As the enforcement branch of the Gulf Cartel, Los Zetas engaged in the activities of collecting debt, obtaining cocaine supply, protecting trafficking routes known as plazas, monitoring cartel loyalty, and, most notably, performing executions. After the death of Guzman in 2002 and the arrest of Cardenas in 2003, the top leadership post of Los Zetas was seized by former GAFE member Heriberto “El Lazca” Lazcano. El Lazca remains in power to this day.

More:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1008/S00102/los-zetas-and-the-gun-laws-that-help-them-thrive.htm

[Axle_techie]

1. Maybe they should try a cash for guns program

:sarcasm:

[X_Digger]

2. Hrmm, let's check that list..

“AK-47 assault rifles, AR-15 assault rifles, MP5s submachine guns, 50 mm machine guns, grenade launchers, ground-to-air missiles, dynamite, bazookas, and helicopters,” l

AK-47 assault rifles: not from the US, at least not full auto (assault rifle v assault weapon)
AR-15 assault rifles: no such animal. If they mean assault weapon it's possible.
MP5s submachine guns: not from the US- tightly controlled since 1934, closed to new civilian registration since 1986
50 mm machine guns: "" ""
grenade launchers: "" ""
ground-to-air missiles: "" ""
bazookas: "" ""
dynamite: available via ag permit in miniscule qty in some states, or to mining operations, moderately tight controls
helicopters: suppose you could buy one here, but the machine guns would be same as the items above

http://www.factcheck.org/2009/04/counting-mexicos-guns

In December 2008, Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora put the number of recovered crime weapons in the country over the past two years at nearly 29,000, according to USA Today. And figures given by ATF make clear that the agency doesn’t trace nearly all of those.

In 2007-2008, Mexico submitted 11,000 guns to the ATF for tracing. Close to 6,000 were successfully traced- and of those, 90 percent, according to testimony in Congress by BATFE Assistant Director William Hoover- were found to have come from the U.S.

http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/cngrtest/ct031709.pdf


Lol, it get's better, what a mish-mash of mis-statements:

During a straw purchase, an ineligible candidate for gun ownership directs an ostensibly eligible individual to purchase the gun in his stead. Then, the transaction between the two parties occurs undetected as one of many private firearms deals that are out of the reach of government regulation.

Straw purchasing is using someone with a clean record to make a purchase from a federally licensed dealer, because that person can pass the instant background check. There is a record (a form 4473), which is retained for a minimum of 20 years. How does the author think that people are prosecuted for straw purchases??

These obvious flaws are also exacerbated by the elimination of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which was in effect from 1994 to 2004. This ban prohibited civilians from purchasing semiautomatic firearms, including Zeta favorites: AK-47s, AR-15s , and other weapons able to accept a detachable magazine.

Actually, no, it didn't. The first "assault weapon" I owned was legally purchased from a federally licensed dealer in 1996. The 10 year 'ban' only affected cosmetic features like a collapsible stock, muzzle break, and pistol grip. It banned 19 models by name (which was circumvented by changing the name) and a combination of features (change the features, and the gun was legal to be sold.)

These firearms were designed by and for the military during World War II in an effort to create a lighter gun for rapid fire in situations of heavy warfare

The AK-47 was built in... 1947 (Avtomat Kalashnikova 1947- Kalashnikov's Automatic Rifle of 1947.) The AR-15 around 1958 (based on Eugene Stoner's 1956 AR-10). Today's civilian versions of these rifles are semi-automatic, which means that just like granddad's Remington 750, they fire as fast as you pull the trigger.

[Kringle]

3. why is a Ar-15 assault rifle, not possible? .nt

[X_Digger]

4. Unless it's very old..

An AR-15 is semi-auto. (Which makes it not an assault rifle but an assault weapon.*)

The full auto version of that rifle is the M-16.

M-16's aren't available at gun shows, are subject to strict regulation since 1934, require 4-5 months worth of paperwork, FBI background checks, $200 tax stamp, and new stocks have been closed to civilian registration since 1986.

And contrary to fear-mongers, AR-15's typically can't be converted to full auto. The BATFE treats and regulates any gun that can be easily converted to full auto as though it already had been converted. Those AR-15's made before 1983 could be converted with parts from a real M-16 and a machine shop, but those parts required for conversion are also treated as a machinegun, with the same strict regulations.






* The original 1958 AR-15 rifle was full auto, but limited numbers were made as prototypes for military trials.

[Kringle]

7. Ar-15 has a rifled barrel, how is it not a rifle? ,nt

[X_Digger]

8. "Assault rifle" is a specific term, different than "assault weapon".

Every technical discipline has its terms that may differ from non-technical usage.

"Bicycle" shorts might not be used to ride a bicycle. A "cigarette" lighter might be used to light cigars. A pocket watch might be used to assault someone, that doesn't make it an "assault weapon".

Similarly, an "assault rifle" refers to a select-fire (semi-automatic, fully-automatic, or three round burst capable) rifle.

"Assault weapon" has multiple definitions- there's the definition in the now-expired federal "assault weapons ban"; there's the definition in California's Roberti-Roos Assault Weapon Control Act (AWCA '89); there's the definition in the Connecticut Assault Weapons Ban (Chapter 943 of the state code). They all refer to semi-automatic firearms, with a combination of 'features'- the ability to accept detachable magazines; grips not inline with the bore of the weapon and not part of the stock ("pistol" grips); bayonet mounts; barrel shrouds; collapsible stocks; thumbhole stocks (in some states); and / or removable muzzle brakes.

The fuzziness on what constitutes an "assault weapon" is why there are firearms that are variations of the same firearm, yet do not meet the specific criteria of an "assault weapon" by state (or federal when it was active) standards.

e.g.

These are all California legal rifles, technically not "assault weapons" per CA statute.



Some "assault weapons" are indeed rifles, but not all "assault weapons" are rifles. Nor does being a rifle make a particular "assault weapon" an "assault rifle".

[Recursion]

5. Same reason you can't have a Chevy Tahoe Coup

They just aren't made.

[benEzra]

6. Ummm...the U.S.-made military hardware in the hands of the Zetas

is coming from GOVERNMENT supply channels, not the U.S. civilian market. The number of automatic weapons manufactured in the entire United States for the civilian gun market since 1986 is zero. None. Zip.

The Mexican military and paramilitary police forces, on the other hand, DO buy those military/government restricted arms in large quantities from U.S. manufacturers and/or the U.S. government, and some of them end up in the hands of the cartels.

Don't believe me? Look closely at the photos of what the cartels are using:



Look closely; those are NFA Title 2 restricted uppers on those carbines, not Title 1 civilian-length AR-15 uppers; those are most likely full auto police/military only M4's. Ditto for the M203 grenade launchers, 40mm M203 rounds, and hand grenades, ALL of which are an automatic 10-year Federal felonies to possess in the United States outside of police/military duty, unless you first obtain a BATFE Form 4 or are a government supplier. I see two or three guns that may be civilian in the mix, but almost everything in that photo comes from the military/police market, not the U.S. civilian market.



And in this pic, that's an M4 type carbine with, again, VERY short military/police upper (possibly a 10.5")---in context, a very good clue that it's likely a Title 2 military/police assault rifle, not a civilian non-automatic Title 1 "assault weapon". I also see what appears to be a rocket launcher, a belt-fed machinegun, and more hand grenades, all of which will net you a 10-year felony per violation in this country unless you obtain a Form 4 or are part of the government/military/police supply chain.

I notice that the article mentions the U.S. Gun Control Act of 1986, but completely omits the more sweeping National Firearms Act of 1934, the law that restricts the types of weapons that the Zetas prefer.

The Zetas are not buying their military hardware at U.S. civilian gun stores any more than they are buying their cocaine and heroin legally at U.S. pharmacies.