Mexico law enforcement recovers thousands of rifles from violent crime scenes every year. A staggering number of these rifles are high-powered .50-caliber firearms and assault weapons trafficked from the United States. Preferred by Mexico’s drug cartels, these weapons continue to threaten national security and public safety on both sides of the border.

Hundreds of thousands of guns are estimated to be trafficked from the U.S. to Mexico every year. One of the largest cross-border movements of illegal firearms in the world, this surge is so great that it has generated its own nickname: the River of Iron.

The Pacific Council has teamed up with the Conflict Awareness Project (CAP) to research the trafficking of U.S. guns to Mexico, part of a broader initiative to promote better collaboration between the two neighboring countries.