MAG first implemented a project in Mexico between 2018 and 2019. MAG supported the Secretariat of National Defense (Defensa) in improving its weapons and ammunition management capacities. In 2025, MAG and Defensa signed a new Memorandum of Understanding to resume collaboration, and MAG reopened a programme in Mexico in early 2026.
Why we work in Mexico
Mexico’s strategic location between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, and its extensive borders with the United States, makes it a key international gateway for illegal weapons, drugs, and human trafficking. Mexico is home to some of the largest, most sophisticated and most violent organised criminal groups in the Americas, and has suffered from rising homicidal violence over the past decade. The majority of firearm homicides in the country are linked to trafficked weapons. An exceptionally high level of unregistered firearms is in circulation in the country, estimated at 13 million unregistered firearms, compared to 3 million registered ones.
MAG’s work in Mexico reduces the risk of firearms diversion through the destruction of excess, obsolete and seized Small Arms and Light Weapons and Small Arms Ammunition.
How we help
MAG’s preference is to approach these activities in a holistic manner, providing training alongside implementation to ensure sustainability. By strengthening the capacity of Defensa to manage weapons, ammunition, and explosives through targeted and sustainable interventions, MAG aims to increase regional security and stability and to protect communities from armed violence.
*Photos taken during MAG's previous intervention in Mexico (2018-9)
Header image credit: Dennis Schrader/Unsplash'
