Illegal firearms fuel Mexican violence

(Vatican Radio)  Illegal firearms are flooding into Mexico daily, fuelling the country's ongoing eight-year Drug War.   

Listen to James Blears' report:

 Armed with information from the Mexican Ministry of Defence and the Navy, the Mexican Government says that almost 309,000 illegal guns were seized within Mexico, between 2006 and last year.

The vast majority originate in the neighboring United States. Drug cartels send over shipments of narcotics in return for vast amounts of cash and stockpiles of weapons from the other side.

But this is just the tip of the firepower iceberg.

Experts estimate that 2,000 firearms are being smuggled into Mexico every day. That adds up to 730,000 annually.

The stark results of this gun running, can be seen in a UN report about violence and prevention. It states that seven out of every ten homicides in Mexico is with a gun.

Mexico's Drug War has killed more than 100,000 people. That death toll is tragically incomplete.