HomeNewsBriefTop Paraguay Official Reveals Arms Trafficking Modus Operandi
BRIEF

Top Paraguay Official Reveals Arms Trafficking Modus Operandi

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 10 MAR 2016 BY JAMES BARGENT EN

A raid on a weapons "supermarket" in Paraguay has led officials to offer details of the inner workings of the country's arms trade, depicting a familiar mix of corruption, stolen military arms, and guns legally bought in the United States.

On March 9, security forces discovered an arsenal of high powered weaponry in a raid on a house in Paraguay's capital city of Asunción, which included machine guns, assault rifles, and armour piercing weapons, reported ABC. So far, three people have been arrested in the investigation.

Following the raid, the head of Paraguay's anti-narcotics forces, which participated in the operation, revealed the principal sources of blackmarket weapons in Paraguay, reported Hoy. According to Luis Rojas, most of the illegal arms used by criminals originate in Bolivia, Argentina and the United States. 

Arms from Bolivia and Argentina are generally stolen from the police and the military and then trafficked into Paraguay, said Rojas. Guns from the United States, meanwhile, are bought legally then broken down into parts and smuggled into Paraguay hidden in shipments of legal goods. The buyers of US guns typically pay between $800 and $1,000 and then sell them on to criminal groups for up to $20,000, he added.

According to Rojas, public officials are deeply involved in the trade, although he offered no names or further details as to which branches of the state he was referring.

InSight Crime Analysis

Rojas' description of arms trafficking in Paraguay reflects similar dynamics seen throughout much of Latin America.

Stolen military and police weapons are a major source of arms used by criminal and insurgent organizations operating in the region, including in El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela. As was hinted at in Paraguay, the theft and trade of military weapons is commonly carried out or facilitated by corrupt members of the security forces or other government officials.

SEE ALSO: Coverage of Arms Trafficking

The United States is also a popular source of weapons due to its loose gun control regulations, which allow people to buy even high-powered assault weapons with minimal oversight. These guns are often smuggled over the border into Mexico, where they either stay in cartel hands or are trafficked on to destinations such as Central America and Colombia.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 7 APR 2023

President Guillermo Lasso has authorized Ecuador's citizens to possess weapons. But will it reduce insecurity in the country?…

ARGENTINA / 1 FEB 2022

In 2021, most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean experienced a marked increase in murders. Resurgent violence was to…

FEATURED / 13 JUL 2023

Listen to this article This audio was generated using text-to-speech software Insecurity is rising in Paraguay, and the government is…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…