Six senior police officials have been shot dead in Mexico in less than seven days. Police chief Juan Antonio Roman was the latest victim to be murdered on 10 May, in a wave of armed violence against Mexican security forces.

Other high ranking officials who have fallen victim to gun violence include Edgar Millan, the acting head of Mexico’s Federal Police Force (PFP) and Esteban Robles, Mexico City anti-kidnap chief.

Several reports claim that drug cartels are behind the recent killings. They are thought to be conducting an orchestrated retaliation to the government’s crackdown on the drug trade in the country.

However, IANSA member Guadalupe Gonzalez from the Mexican Centre of Strategic Analysis and International Negotiation disputes this. She believes that the shootings demonstrate a wider Mexican problem that extends beyond drug rings and involves all levels of organised crime.

Ms Gonzalez points out that there is a high proliferation of small arms in all criminal circles – not just drug cartels. 

There is also the problem of Mexico’s neighbour. According to a BBC report, 95% of firearms originate from US gun shops. Many American gun shop owners have been arrested on suspicion of illegal firearm trading in recent years.

CAENI is calling for the development of a more effective international tracing system to monitor the flow of guns across the US-Mexican border. This step is vital to tackling arms proliferation in organized crime and in curbing what Gonzalez calls ‘an increasing concern about the rise of criminal acts that are committed with firearms'.