Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum emphasized that, for the first time, the U.S. government has committed to carrying out operations inside its own territory to prevent high-powered weapons from crossing the southern border Photo by Isaac Esquivel/EPA
Mexico announced a new bilateral cooperation agreement with the United States to curb the flow of illegal weapons into Mexican territory, negotiated during the early September visit of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The agreement, announced Saturday and described as a breakthrough in security cooperation between the two countries, includes real-time information sharing, coordinated operations and forensic technology to trace firearms.
President Claudia Sheinbaum emphasized that, for the first time, the U.S. government has committed to carrying out operations inside its own territory to prevent high-powered weapons from crossing the southern border, addressing a longstanding demand from Mexico.
“Normally they ask Mexico to conduct operations to stop drugs from entering the United States. For the first time, the United States recognizes that it must carry out operations to control the illegal flow of weapons into Mexico,” Sheinbaum said.
She said that, according to official figures, about 75% of the weapons seized in Mexico come from the U.S. market, making the agreement a crucial step in addressing gun violence and weakening organized crime networks.
The initiative, “Mission Firewall: United Against Arms Trafficking,” aims to cut the flow of weapons into Mexico through increased U.S. inspections and southbound operations, joint investigations and prosecutions, real-time information sharing and expanded use of forensic tracing tools, including eTrace and ballistic identification systems, across the country.
The initiative was launched after the inaugural meeting of the U.S.-Mexico Security Implementation Group on Sept. 26 in McAllen, Texas. The group’s goal is to “coordinate bilateral actions against narco-terrorism, fentanyl trafficking, firearms and illicit fuel, in addition to strengthening border security.”
In addition to targeting arms trafficking, both countries agreed to expand cooperation into other security areas, including cross-border illicit finance.
To that end, the two countries agreed to create a special team to coordinate the civil seizure of assets tied to criminal activity, prevent fuel theft and strengthen interagency cooperation to cut off funding sources for criminal organizations.
“Mission Firewall” is not the first joint effort against arms trafficking.
From 2007 to 2021, the Mérida Initiative was in effect, which included measures to curb the flow of weapons and money from the United States into Mexico. Under that program, U.S. officials carried out “straw purchaser” operations, in which intermediaries illegally bought firearms so authorities could track them and identify major traffickers supplying Mexican cartels.
However, the strategy backfired. During the administration of President Felipe Calderón, more than 2,000 weapons crossed into Mexico unchecked and were lost. Many later appeared at violent crime scenes, including the 2010 killing of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, which sparked a scandal.
In 2021, the two governments signed the Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health, and Safe Communities, elevating arms trafficking to a priority alongside synthetic drugs and criminal networks.
Since then, the United States has expanded joint investigations, prosecutions and tracing. In 2025, that framework led to “Mission Firewall,” described as a new level of ambition and coordination.
