Antiaircraft gun seized in Mexico
MEXICO CITY - Mexican authorities arrested a woman guarding an arsenal that included the first antiaircraft machine gun seized in Mexico, police said yesterday, as the army announced the capture of an alleged top drug lieutenant.
MEXICO CITY - Mexican authorities arrested a woman guarding an arsenal that included the first antiaircraft machine gun seized in Mexico, police said yesterday, as the army announced the capture of an alleged top drug lieutenant.
The arsenal belonged to a group linked to the powerful Beltran-Leyva cartel, the federal police coordinator, Gen. Rodolfo Cruz, said. It also included ammunition, five rifles, a grenade, and part of a grenade launcher.
Mexican drug cartels, battling a fierce crackdown by soldiers and federal police, have increasingly obtained higher-powered weapons, even military-grade arms such as grenades and machine guns. That has left police - particularly state and municipal forces - grossly outgunned, and many officers have quit after attacks.
Cruz said the confiscated .50-caliber antiaircraft machine gun can fire 800 rounds per minute and penetrate armor from more than 5,000 feet. Police on a routine patrol Monday found the gun fitted atop an SUV at a house in northern Sonora state.
Authorities did not release any other details on the gun.
The arrested suspect apparently is not related to the Beltran-Leyva clan, Cruz said.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives has traced many guns seized at scenes of drug violence in Mexico to U.S. commercial sources. But determining the source of military-grade weapons such as fully automatic machine guns is more complicated.