An anti-tank missile launcher shipped east to the battlefield in Ukraine has been spotted down south, in the hands of a Mexican drug cartel.
According to the Daily Star, the said missile launcher was being carried by a member of the Mexican Gulf Cartel (CDG). Established in the 1930s, the CDG often clashes with rival cartel Los Zetas. Milenio TV news anchor Azucena Uresti identified the launcher as an FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile system – made by the Arlington, Virginia-based Raytheon Technologies – in a TV report.
The Star noted that Washington has been shipping the Javelin missile system to Kyiv since 2018. More than 10,000 Javelins have been shipped from the U.S. to the front lines to keep the Russian Armed Forces at bay since the Russia-Ukraine war broke out in February 2022.
Some online observers pointed out that the launcher looks more like a Swedish-made AT-4 anti-armor system. The U.S. has also shipped the AT-4 to Ukraine, alongside the Javelin.
There are significant differences between the two anti-tank weapons. The Javelin fires a guided missile and can be reloaded for another firing. The AT-4, meanwhile, fires an unguided warhead and can only be used once.
Nevertheless, the news of a CDG member possessing a weapon supposed to be for Ukrainian soldiers has reinforced warnings about U.S. weapons winding up in the wrong hands. There have been multiple reports of Kyiv-bound military aid arming terrorist groups in various parts of the world. (Related: Ukraine aid scam: Only 30% of weapons shipped to besieged country have made it to the front lines.)
In October 2022, the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (KRP) warned that criminal gangs in Finland had obtained Ukraine-bound weapons. The weapons were also found in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.
"We've seen signs of these weapons already finding their way to Finland, said Christer Ahlgren, the KRP's detective superintendent. "Ukraine has received a large volume of weapons and that's good. But we're going to be dealing with these arms for decades and pay the price here."
Nigerian, Israeli leaders warn of Ukraine weapons used for terror
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said in November last year that "terrorists" in the Lake Chad region of Africa were armed with weapons from Ukraine.
"The raging war in Ukraine [serves] as [a] major [source] of weapons and fighters that bolster the ranks of the terrorists in the Lake Chad region," he remarked. "Weapons being used for the war in Ukraine and Russia are equally beginning to filter to the region."
"This illegal movement of arms into the region has heightened the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, which continues to threaten our collective peace and security in the region. There is, therefore, the urgent need for expedited collaborative actions by our border control agencies and other security services to stop the circulation of all illegal weapons."
Even incumbent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu espoused the same fears over military aid sent by other countries not reaching Ukraine and falling into the wrong hands. In October 2022, he mentioned the possibility of Israeli military aid to Kyiv being utilized by Iran – a sworn enemy of the Jewish-majority nation.
"On the question of weapons, there's always a possibility – and this has happened time and again – that weapons we supplied in one battlefield end up in Iranian hands used against us," Netanyahu told CNBC in an interview. "In the Golan Heights, where we're trying to prevent Iran from creating a second Lebanon front – a second terrorist front against us – we encounter Israeli-made weapons."
Visit MilitaryTech.news for more stories about Ukraine-bound military aid landing in the hands of terrorists.
Watch this Russia Today report about how American-made drones sent as military aid to Ukraine ended up on the so-called dark web.
This video is from the High Hopes channel on Brighteon.com.
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Ukraine-bound weapons shipments will end up in Iran's hands, former Israeli PM Netanyahu warns.
Weapons donated to Ukraine are being used by terrorists in Africa, Nigerian president warns.
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