WASHINGTON — The United States lacks a coordinated strategy to stem the flow of weapons smuggled across its southern border, a failure that has fueled the rise of powerful criminal cartels and violence in Mexico, a government watchdog agency report has found.
The report by the congressional Government Accountability Office, the first federal assessment of the issue, offered blistering conclusions that will probably influence the debate over the role of U.S.-made weaponry as violence threatens to spill across the Mexico border.
According to a draft copy of the report, which will be released today, the growing number of weapons being smuggled into Mexico comprise more than 90% of the seized firearms that can be traced by authorities there.
The document also cited recent U.S. intelligence indicating that most weapons were being smuggled in specifically for the syndicates -- and being used not only against the Mexican government but also to expand their drug trafficking operation in the United States.
"The U.S. government lacks a strategy to address arms trafficking to Mexico," the report said in blunt terms. "Individual U.S. agencies have undertaken a variety of activities and projects to combat arms trafficking to Mexico, but they are not part of a comprehensive U.S. government-wide strategy for addressing the problem."
Obama administration officials said that, although they could not comment on the report before it was released, they have taken steps to reduce the flow of weapons, long a source of frustration to Mexican authorities.
This month, for instance, the administration announced a Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy that included a section on arms trafficking.
The GAO report's authors, however, said that strategy and similar Obama administration efforts were in the early stages and unlikely to significantly improve the situation quickly. They also said the Merida Initiative -- $1.4 billion in initial aid allotted under the George W. Bush administration -- had provided no dedicated funding to address the issue of weapons trafficking.
In the meantime, illegally obtained U.S. weapons -- including an increasing number of automatic rifles -- are being used to kill thousands of Mexican police, soldiers, elected officials and civilians, the report said.
Jess T. Ford, the GAO's director of international affairs and trade, is scheduled to deliver testimony on the findings at a House hearing today.
