What for some people who aren’t attuned to hard data is a credible conspiracy theory, for Governor Greg Abbott is a politically profitable argument. According to his office’s three-year claim, the border with Mexico is the dangerous line through which “drugs, criminals, and illegal weapons” are smuggled into the United States.
Thus, Texas authorities not only dismiss and minimize a highly sensitive issue for Mexico, given the resulting thousands of deaths and constant attacks on public order and stability caused by the north-south smuggling of legal and illegal weapons, but they also reverse the direction of trafficking to justify their willful blindness, their aggressiveness toward Mexico and its citizens, as well as their ineffective measures, albeit successful in terms of media impact.
In the various telephone conversations between President Trump and President Sheinbaum, U.S. concerns about drug and migrant trafficking, and Mexican apprehensions about arms smuggling, have been heard and are part of the common agenda that must be addressed, according to what the interlocutors have reported.
The Texas governor, however, has a personal priority list, on which finding solutions to shared problems does not rank high, as shown by his attempts to enact a standoff with reality.
Governor Abbott’s Rhetorical Fantasy
For three years, the Office of the Texas Governor has been issuing public pronouncements claiming that arms trafficking is a south-north affair. The first was on May 20, 2022, when it announced that the Governor was “Activating a Joint Border Security Operations Center in Preparation for Mass Migrant Influx.” Abbott said that “Texas will not stand by as President Biden puts our state and our nation in danger by ending Title 42 expulsions and allowing dangerous criminals, illegal weapons, and deadly drugs like fentanyl to flow unabated into the United States.”
For lack of factual support, in a July 27, 2022 tweet, the Bureau shared a Fox News article stating that “Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Sgt. Marc Couch says his troopers are working diligently to combat criminal activities connected with human smuggling, fentanyl, and weapons trafficking across the southern border.” The report indicates that “Operation Lone Star’s efforts have led to over 225,000 migrant apprehensions, over 13,000 criminal arrests, and seizures of over 3,500 weapons and 289 million deadly fentanyl doses.”
Most likely, some of the 13,000 detainees carried those 3,500 weapons as part of their activity. None of the data indicates that the intent was to smuggle those 3,500 weapons into Texas, where, as opposed to Mexico, where they are expensive and it is illegal to possess them, they are cheaper and legally sold.
Even so, this Office has maintained the alleged south-to-north arms trafficking as part of its staple arguments for years, even after the change of administration, as shown in a press release dated January 31, 2025, which states that “Governor Greg Abbott, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), and the Texas National Guard continue to work together with the Trump Administration to secure the border; stop the smuggling of drugs, weapons, and people into Texas.” Nevertheless, in the list of achievements they compile, they mention thousands of arrests and millions of seized doses, but not a single handgun.
The Real U.S.-to-Mexico Weapons Trafficking
Manipulations like Governor Abbott’s are fueled by the ignorance about north-south arms trafficking that persists among a significant segment of the American public. This occurs despite the Mexican government’s best efforts to explain its case
Approximately 70-90% of firearms used by Mexico’s crime syndicates originate in the United States., with 200,000-500,000 guns smuggled annually, according to ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) data and Mexican government estimates. Most are legally purchased from gun shops, gun shows, or private sellers in border states such as Texas and Arizona, exploiting lax U.S. gun laws, including the “gun show loophole” and minimal oversight of straw purchases.
Of significant concern are .50 caliber Barrett rifles. These powerful sniper rifles, capable of penetrating armor and downing helicopters, are among the most sought-after weapons by criminal groups due to their destructive capacity and status as symbols of power. In addition, military-style rifles such as AR-15s and AK-47s are in high demand.
Mexico’s 2021 lawsuit against U.S. gun manufacturers, seeking US$10 billion for negligence in enabling trafficking, underscores the issue’s importance, with the U.S. Supreme Court reviewing the case in 2025. The smuggling exacerbates violence (140,000 civilian deaths, 2015-2021), drives migration, and complicates U.S.-Mexico security cooperation.
The U.S. government, through ATF’s Project Gunrunner and CBP seizures (14,000 firearms in 2022), prioritizes interdiction, but efforts are under-resourced compared to drug trafficking enforcement. Political resistance to gun control, Second Amendment debates, and focus on domestic issues such as fentanyl limit U.S. action. Public concern is moderate, higher in border regions, but overshadowed by local gun violence.
It’s implausible that Governor Abbott and his team are unaware of the reality of arms smuggling. Such unsupported and counterfactual assertions demonstrate the frequent manipulation of sensitive issues in the bilateral relationship for personal or group political purposes, at the expense of undermining cooperation between the two nations and public understanding of the most relevant issues.
Related: Mexico Responds to Tariff Threats – But What is Trump Doing to Stop the Guns?
Mexican Press Agency is part of ALMA, which is dedicated to news and information about Mexico and Mexicans in the United States and is a fiscally sponsored project of Social Focus, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Redwood City, California.
