Mexico: M82 a symbolic weapon of "Cartels" feared by "Police"

Mexico: The flow of high-calibre weapons smuggled across the porous US border has worried Mexican officers and some weapons are as strong as the M82 semi-automatic rifle manufactured in the US, and are still favored by the powerful drug cartels. The M82 can be easily penetrated by bulletproof vests, concrete walls and even tanks, says manufacturer Barrett Firearms. According to the Mexican government, which filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in Massachusetts this week against the company and 10 other gun manufacturers, it is also one of the armed weapons for drug cartels.

Weapons like the M82 are part of a "stream" of illegal weapons flowing south, Mexico claims, in part because of the negligent business practices of the manufacturers who encouraged unlawful arms trade. read more

None of the producers, including Barrett, responded to Reuters' requests for comment.

The M82, first manufactured in the 1980s, became famous during the first Gulf War when it was adopted by the US military. According to Barrett, it is now used by more than 70 security agencies around the world.

In Mexico, the weapon upset the stability of power between criminal groups and inadequately equipped police forces. According to Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, program director at the Mexico and Central America department of Noria, a brainstorm.

"If you have a Barrett, it indicates that any non-special units like the local police and the municipal police cannot fight you," Grandma said.

"It leaves the military as the only people capable of fighting the cartels."

The M82 rifles, which are often equipped to act as sniper's weapon, can fire 70 rounds per minute with a maximum range of 2500 meters.

Amid 2009 and 2020, authorities confiscated 358 M82 rifles, according to authoritative figures cited by the newspaper Milenio. In 2019, a record 68 such weapons were seized.

The raw strength of the rifle, which scales about 14 kilograms and is 1.5 meters long, was seen in mid-2020 during a military-style assassination attempt on the Mexican city police chief captured by surveillance cameras.

Armed men who left at least one M82 rifle were seen spraying the police chief's armored vehicle, Omar Garcia Harfuch, at high speeds. He was seriously injured while two bodyguards and an innocent bystander were killed.

In 2016, affiliates of the "Knights Templar" cartel in the state of Michoacan allegedly crashed a helicopter with an M82 rifle, according to the Mexican lawsuit.

The Barrett M82 was a 'serious problem' for security forces because its armor-piercing bullets could endanger the cars of reconnaissance vehicles and helicopters, said a Mexican official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The weapon should not be in the hands of civilians, the official said.

"This is a weapon of war," the official added.

For the cartels, the M82 has also graced a status symbol.

Criminal organisations that want to project power regularly post photos on social media of their members with M82 rifles and latest military equipment, mimicking the style of special forces.

"It's a highly symbolic weapon in the narco business and for the narco aesthetics," Grandma said.

"It shows you're at the top of the game."