Interview with a hitman
Todd Bensman interviews a former Mexican soldier who changed sides, joining a drug cartel.
Who would you ask?
The leader of the escort. He was a nearby person, close person. We ask them to bring us Barrett rifles, .50 caliber, 'cuz we have them in the military, so we knew about them. Grenades and all kinds of stuff.
You knew how to use the weapons?
Actually, the escort leader, he had been a sniper in the army, in the military, so he knew exactly what he wants.
When you would receive an AR-15, would you convert it to automatic?
Sometimes, yeah. There was a person in Mexico that could do that change. Just adding a little piece of metal. In Spanish is the safety thing. Don't know it in English.
So you always had American weapons?
Yeah, actually, the MP5s we got were made in Germany, but they brought them from the U.S.
Always automatic?
Yes sir.
What do you do now?
Manual job. I'm a craftsman or something like that.
How long did you work for the organization?
Three years.
When you received these weapons, did you take away the serial numbers?
No sir. It isn't necessary ... Most of the times, the local authorities, the state police or the municipal police, they protect us all the time, so we don't need to erase nothing. We don't cover the parts or nothing.
Did you keep your weapon, the same one, all the time, or was there a central warehouse, where were these weapons kept?
When we were in service, because we had days off too, we kept the weapons all the time with us. But when we were tourists, there were safety houses, each small group have their own safety houses to keep the weapons and vehicles and every kind of stuff. So before you go to the home, you have to pass through the safety house, leave all your equipment, weapons and everything, and then you go to the home.
It's interesting to me because there was a ban on these kind of guns, you couldn't buy these guns very easily, how did you get these assault weapons?
I don't have no idea.
Where did you get the military weapons?
We received hand grenades all the time. From the U.S., we don't know where they came from. One time we got some oldie machine guns, this one with three-foot stand, it was brought. There were two of them. They were Browning, I guess. Caliber 7.62. And some grenade launchers, Just the grenade launcher, that you can put on the guard-hand to the rifle. That kind of grenade launcher.
Todd, if I ever saw an article that was B.S. this looks to be it. Either you made it up completely or the idiot you were interviewing was primed to give you these answers.
The description of converting the weapons to full auto is BS and they don't get them from US stores or gunshows. The weaposn in the pictures are not even the AK clones that are available here. Most of that stuff is easier bought all over the world than in the US. The US made automatic weapons are coming from Mexico's own military as is the ammunitions. Of course the US loses control of it once it's in the hands of the Mexican army.
Just like you can't buy gernades in gunstores or shows you can't buy rifles that will convert to full auto without major machine work. Even ammo is in short supply and expensive in the US but anyone with any connections can get it cheap from Europe, SE Asia or even the Mid East.
This just sounds like liberal drivel used to justify new gun laws here. Buy a nice rifle or pistol and go to a range, meet nice people and find out what firearms ownership is really about.
I work on the border and actually, this account fits pretty well with conversations I've had with people involved with the Narcos. Also, if you look at the patterns of weapon confiscations, they correspond to the interviewee's descriptions of weapons caches. Serial numbers of confiscated weapons almost always lead back to a US point of sale. As a gun owner in the US this is a sad reality. I agree with Kentvander that there are good people in shooting clubs and at ranges in the US, but there are also a lot of baddies taking advantage of our Constitutional Right to bear arms. A real shame.
I don't think the conversion from semi-auto to full auto is that difficult. According to this: http://www.scribd.com/doc/6996244/Firearms-FullAuto-Conversion-Colt-Ar15..., it only takes an hour and minimal materials and tools to make something called a Lightning Link, and only a few seconds to install it to make the conversion for an AR-15. My ATF colleagues also assure me this conversion is not difficult at all.
I know little about weaponry...but I do follow news in English about Mexico...and this is the first interview I've
read...with revelations from a former Mexican special forces/Zeta foot soldier.
Congratulations...for revealing new information about a pivotal aspect of Mexico's tragic and dangerous drug wars.
Lex Wadelski
What a load, no one walks into a gun store and walks out with a M-16, even in Texas. The Mexican Army would be my first choice as to a source of weapons and shooters for these cartels.
To me this interview seems very self serving to an anti-gun American press. A reporter in the (in general) anti-gun American press has the chance to interview a Mexican drug cartel insider and all he can ask about is the 'American' source of firearms?
What do these cartels make, like a million dollars a second? And implied in this article is that the success of these organized gangs is American firearms?
I do not own an EBR (Evil Black Rile) myself but I do notice the hit man most always differentiates between an AR15 (civilian semi-auto) and M16 (military full auto). If the guy is ex-Mexican military he should certainly know the difference.
These cartels have totally corrupted the local Mexican Police, have the civilian courts on the run and the Mexican military has to be brought in to continue the fight. How can anyone believe that these guys can't get any weapon they want from anywhere. I won't even bring up grenades!!! I must keep missing those at my local Walmart/sporting goods store/gun shop.
Sorry, but this story is just not believable. Hand grenades bought on the internet and shipped to Mexico City? Full auto weapons being bought in bulk in the US and smuggled across the border? This is the stuff of movies and television melodramas, not reality.
Ask Mr. Bensman to try purchasing several items like these in Texas or anywhere else in the US. I'll wait patiently for his "story."
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