Report Launch: Firearms Trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean

Join the CSIS Americas Program for the launch of a new report analyzing the dynamics, methods, and consequences of illicit firearms trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Latin America and the Caribbean accounts for a third of all homicides worldwide, despite having only 8 percent of its population. LAC cities consistently top international rankings as some of the most violent locales outside of active conflict zones. Behind this insecurity are powerful and deeply-entrenched transnational criminal organizations trafficking drugs and other illegal commodities, who in turn rely on a seemingly endless flow of illicit firearms to carry out their campaigns of violence and intimidation on the Western Hemisphere’s inhabitants. Arms trafficking goes well-beyond a law enforcement challenge, the proliferation of semi- and fully-automatic rifles, grenade launchers, and various high-caliber weapons are increasingly used by TCOs to hold at risk the very sovereignty of LAC governments. Stories from Mexico, Haiti, and Ecuador all underscore how the scourge of illicit weapons, and the groups who wield them, can plunge not just communities, but whole countries, into violence.  

Firearms trafficking does not adhere to any one standard pattern throughout all of LAC. Like other forms of illicit commerce, TCOs are constantly evolving their methods and modalities for obtaining weapons. To offer a more granular window into the specific manifestations and challenges of arms trafficking, this event and accompanying report aims to take an in-depth look across four sub-regions: Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. 

This event is made possible through cooperation with the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the U.S. State Department.