Illegal weapons trafficking accounts for only a small percentage of the billion plus dollar annual worldwide arms trade, but it plays a significant role in crime, terrorism, insurgency, drug trafficking, and other illegal activities. Transnational criminal organizations deal almost exclusively in illegal weapons. Individuals and organizations have used the illegal weapons trade to harm and intimidate unarmed civilian populations and to expand their criminal enterprises. Illegal weapons trafficking has had a significant impact on the spread of international drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) and has even had an impact in the human trafficking industry. Many of those directly affected by the resulting violence of the illegal arms trade are innocent civilians. The majority of the illegal arms trade involves weapons considered to be small arms and light weapons. This article provides an overview of illegal weapons, the individuals and organizations that buy them, and the response by governments to the illegal weapons trade.
Defining Illegal Weapons
In 1997, in the most comprehensive report to date, and a report that is still used as the benchmark by law enforcement, military, governments, and other civilian agencies, the United Nations issued a comprehensive report that classified weapons commonly involved in illegal trafficking. The 1997 report General and Complete Disarmament: Small Arms. Report of the Panel of Governmental Experts on Small Arms defined illegal arms as small arms and light weapons used by “all armed forces and internal security forces as weapons for self-protection or self-defense, close or short-range combat, direct or indirect fire, and against tanks or aircraft at relatively short distances.” Small arms were defined as those used by one person for personal use and light weapons as those used by several persons serving as a crew. Small arms include (1) revolvers and self-loading pistols,
(2) rifles and carbines, (3) submachine guns, (4) assault rifles, and (5) light machine guns. Light weapons include (1) heavy machine guns, (2) handheld underbarrel and mounted grenade launchers, (3) portable antiaircraft guns, (4) portable anti-tank guns/recoilless rifles, (5) portable launchers of anti-tank missile and rocket systems, (6) portable launchers of antiaircraft missile systems, and (7) mortars of 100 mm or less. Light weapons 3, 4, and 5 can be either handheld or mounted. The United Nations also included ammunition and explosives as part of the illegal arms trade as well as (1) cartridge rounds for small arms, (2) shells and missiles for light weapons, (3) loaded mobile containers for antiaircraft and anti-tank systems (single action), (4) hand grenades (antipersonnel or anti-tank), (5) landmines, and (6) explosives.
Small arms and small light weapons can all be carried and used by one or two people. Light weapons can be carried by persons, pack animals, and/or light vehicles such as pickup trucks. All are highly mobile (i.e., they can be easily packed and moved, even while in use) and can be adapted for use in a variety of climates, terrains, and conditions. An operator can assemble a light weapon, fire it, and move it to a new position before being identified and targeted by a military or law enforcement source. Light weapons can cause mass casualties in short order or can be used in sustained operations against military armament such as tanks and aircraft. They can also be used against civilian vehicles and civilian aircraft. In November 2002, al-Qaeda–supported terrorists attempted to use light weapons (i.e., antiaircraft weapons) against an El Al airliner carrying Israeli tourists evacuating Mombasa, Kenya, following a hotel bombing which killed 15. Luckily, one missile failed to achieve lock and the operator forgot to disengage the safety mechanism on the other.
These weapons are less complex and require less training for the operators. Most, in fact, can be operated with no training whatsoever. Small arms and light weapons are easy to conceal, which means operators can transport them with little risk of attracting the attention of the authorities.
One of the most significant advantages to the criminal, insurgent, or terrorist is that small arms and light weapons are durable, almost maintenance free, and easily repaired. For example, there used to be a saying that to fix a knock-off AK-47 (i.e., one produced in Asia from stamped metal), all one needed was a soft drink can and set of tin snips. Since they are durable, these weapons can operate for an extended period without logistical support.
The Buyers
Globally, the illegal weapons trade involves governments supplying weapons to insurgents, terrorists, cartels, and groups involved in civil wars. Governments can use sympathetic criminal groups to advance government interests in a region and destabilize other governments without world condemnation. It is likely that most weapons being used by insurgents, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS, and other terrorists in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and other countries in the region are part of the world of illegal weapons trafficking. In fact, there is a positive correlation between illicit market prices for illegal weapon sales in Libya and fatalities in Syria. As prices go up, fatalities increase. A similar correlation holds for ammunition prices in the Middle East and civilian casualties.
In some parts of the world, such as Africa, South America, and parts of Asia, animal poachers obtain weapons via illegal trafficking and sales. Animal poachers routinely use small arms in their trade, thwarting legal efforts to control poaching. Not only have thousands of animals fallen prey to poachers, but numerous game wardens and other law enforcement officials have been killed by illegal small arms.
The ant trade in Europe is the major supplier of illegal weapons on the continent and British Isles. The ant trade consists of small operators carrying a few weapons at a time to sell to criminals and terrorists. There are thousands of ants, making it virtually impossible for authorities to stop trafficking or the weapons dealing. Many illegal guns on the mainland of Europe cross through the Schengen Zone between the Eastern Bloc countries into Western Europe.
The ant trade also deals in light weapons. For example, in 2013, in Manchester, England, two police officers were killed with a hand grenade thrown by Manchester gangster Dale Cregan. In 2012, Mohammed Merah killed seven people in Toulouse, France, using weapons purchased through the ant trade. Included in Merah’s arsenal were an AK-47 and Uzi machine gun. AK-47s have routinely been used in drug and gang killings in Marseille, France, all obtained via the ant trade. In January 2015, the Charlie Hebdo terrorists used automatic weapons brought to France from Slovakia in their terror attacks that left 12 dead in and around Paris.
In the Americas, DTOs (or cartels) are heavily involved in illegal arms trafficking. Most of their illegal light weapons come from Europe and Eastern Europe. Some larger light weapons (e.g., the rocket-propelled grenade launchers) come from the Middle East and Asia. In the United States, small arms are frequently obtained using straw purchasers (i.e., persons paid by the DTOs because they can pass the U.S. background checks required to purchase a gun). They come into the United States (or live in the United States), purchase a quantity of small arms, and transport them across the border. Between purchases on the international black market and straw purchasers, the DTOs have amassed millions of illegal weapons. Stories of large weapon caches being discovered by authorities are frequently reported. Almost always, these raids discover large quantities of light weapons. For example, in 2010, in one of the largest discoveries ever made, military and law enforcement authorities found a cache near Higueras, Mexico (only 100 miles from the Texas border), which included over 200 semiautomatic and automatic assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and grenades, Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifles with armor-piercing rounds, boxes of grenades, thousands of rounds of ammunition, communication equipment, and up-armored trucks and SUVs (i.e., vehicles that have been fortified with armor plating and bulletproof glass).
In the United States, illegal weapons proliferate and make their way into the hands of criminals, terrorists, and gangs via a variety of iron pipelines, major highways running from the borders and between states into interior cities. In 2013, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg estimated that over 90% of the weapons used to commit crimes in New York City were illegal weapons purchased in other states and transported for sale to the city. In 2011, over 320 weapons confiscated or found by law enforcement in New York came from Virginia. Weapons from Florida, G eorgia, Ohio, the Carolinas, and Pennsylvania have been trafficked in New York. In all of these supply states, there is no limit on the purchase of guns, and background checks are minimal. Guns can be purchased from dealers, gun shows, or other criminals. Iron pipelines operate throughout the country, including in Los Angeles, the Pacific Northwest, and Chicago. Chicago allows no handgun sales in the city and has some of the toughest gun control laws in the country, but many of the illegal guns that end up in the hands of criminals and gang members in Chicago come primarily from Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and southern states (e.g., Mississippi). Many of these are bought on behalf of criminals and gangs by straw purchasers.
The Response
The efforts by governments and law enforcement have failed to stop or even slow illegal arms trafficking. For every law passed, for every measure enacted, and for every proactive program started, weapons dealers find ways to circumvent those efforts. Tougher laws do not seem to work. In the United States, for example, laws that require more complete background checks and mandate tougher penalties for illegal gun sales have had little impact on the flow of weapons in the iron pipeline or across borders. Increased intelligence gathering efforts have had minimal impact on intercepting illegal weapons. Harsher penalties for those caught and convicted have seemingly not deterred the traffickers. Further, some have argued that the penalties are not near tough enough. In the United States, the average prison time for someone caught trafficking weapons is 21 months.
References:
- Government Accountability Office. (2009). Firearms trafficking: U.S. efforts to combat arms trafficking to Mexico face planning and coordination challenges. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved from https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-09-709.pdf
- Guaqueta, L. (2010). Arms trafficking at the U.S.-Mexico border. Retrieved from https://fpif.org/arms_trafficking_at_the_us-mexico_border/
- Johnson, D. E. A. (2016). Weapons trafficking and the Odessa Network: How one small think tank was able to unpack one very big problem, and the lessons it teaches us. In M. Hughes & M. Miklaucic (Eds.), Impunity: Countering illicit power in war and transition. Washington, DC: Center for Complex Operations and the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute, National Defense University.
- Rhumorbarbe, D., Werner, D., Gillieron, Q, Staehli, L., Broseus, J., & Rossy, Q. (2018, February). Characterising the online weapons trafficking on cryptomarkets. Forensic Science International, 283, 16–20. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0379073817305157
- United Nations. (1997, August 27). General and complete disarmament: Small arms (Report of the panel of governmental experts on small arms). Retrieved from https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/243954