SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — El Salvador’s defense minister says Mexican drug cartels are trying to buy high-powered weapons from military and police forces in Central America.
Mexican officials have long said the most of the guns used by the cartels are smuggled in from the United States.
But Gen. David Munguia warns that the gangs have expanded into Central America are also trying to buy weapons there.
Munguia said Tuesday “there is a real threat,” just days after his army arrested two noncommissioned officers and four soldiers accused of trying to steal 1,812 grenades.
The soldiers were allegedly trying to sell the grenades to gang members and drug traffickers in neighboring Guatemala, where Mexico’s Zetas cartel has been active.
