US States, Caribbean Nations Back Mexico's Appeal In Arms Lawsuit
March 23 (Reuters) - The United States has designated one former and two current Paraguayan officials for what Washington said was their involvement in "significant corruption," making the officials and their families ineligible for entry into the North American country.
The United States has been shoring up alliances in the Asia-Pacific seeking to counter China's assertiveness in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, as Beijing seeks to advance its territorial claims.
The U.S.
action targets former director of the Paraguayan Civil Aviation Authority, Edgar Melgarejo, current member of the Paraguayan Panel for the Discipline of Judges and Prosecutors, Jorge Bogarin, and current Court Clerk Vicente Ferreira, State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a statement.
'There is a correlation between the negligent practices of companies and the arms trafficking that leads to violence in Mexico, as well as other crimes such as human trafficking and drug trafficking, particularly of fentanyl,' it added.
The brief from the Caribbean governments, which was joined by a network of non-governmental organizations, follows a summit among regional leaders last month held in the Bahamas, where arms trafficking was a key topic.
"The theater forces will maintain a high state of alert at all times and take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security and peace and stability in the South China Sea," said Tian Junli, a spokesman for China's Southern Theatre Command.
South Carolina, which was 27-28 and four games under .500 in SEC play last season, is 23-2 and 6-0 after sweeping Missouri. First-year Washington coach Jason Kelly picked up his biggest series win so far when the Huskies won two of three on the road against a top 10-ranked UCLA.
During an interview with HSI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents, Lugardo-Moreno confessed to having purchased on October 17, 2019, the weapon and several other firearms for a group that was going to hand them over to the Gulf Cartel.
The states filing the brief were California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.
The firearm in question, a Diamondback DB-15 multi-caliber AR style pistol, was recovered by Mexican authorities in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, following the abduction of the South Carolina residents on March 3.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office in Harlingen, Texas, was alerted by law enforcement in Mexico on March 14 that the weapon used in the crime has been purchased in the U.S.
and dispatched agents who detained Lugardo-Moreno on Sunday.
Biden's Fiscal Year 2024 budget would bump ATF funding by 7.4 percent with a total $1.9 billion with the goal of tightening gun laws.
The money would be used, in part, to seek stricter rules and legislation related to firearms registration as Biden continues to make part of his priorities combating gun violence in the U.S.
Accused by Trump and the former president's allies in the House of Representatives of a political "witch hunt," prosecutor Alvin Bragg, an elected Democrat, has hit back at Republican "interference" in the investigation.
Lugardo-Moreno's apprehension took places just two days after the Mexican government announced it was appealing a civil lawsuit against United States-based gun manufacturers as part of its efforts to stem the illegal flow of firearms to criminal organizations.
The Diamondback AR-15 was used by the Gulf Cartel's armed wing, known as the Scorpions Group, to shoot the Americans after they were intercepted on a Matamoros street the morning of March 3, several hours after the had driven over from Brownsville, Texas.
Members (pictured) of the Gulf Cartel's Scorpions Group were abandoned on a Matamoros street and accused by the criminal organization of being behind last Friday's kidnapping of four Americans, including two who were killed.
'A favorable decision in the court of appeals will allow the government to prove its case on the merits - that the gun manufacturers' marketing and distribution practices amount to actively facilitating the trafficking of their guns into Mexico,' the Mexican government said in a statement.
