No.
There is no evidence that half of the weapons supplied to Ukraine by the United States are being sold to Mexican cartels or other criminal organizations. The Department of Defense, including nearly 100 individuals from its Office of Inspector General, closely monitors weapons and military assistance supplied to Ukraine alongside several other agencies.
Black market weapons sales tend to increase in conflict zones, and some organized arms trafficking by criminal organizations has been reported in Ukraine. These operations primarily involve small, Soviet- or Russian-style weapons recovered on battlefields or weapons dumps, however, rather than the missiles and ammunition that make up most of the U.S.-supplied arsenal.
Similar claims, including that weapons supplied to Ukraine by NATO countries were being sold to criminal organizations, circulated at the start of the war and were later traced back to Russian disinformation campaigns.
This brief responds to conversations such as this one.
The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs, or quick-response fact checks, about trending claims relating to Arizona.
Sources
- Department of Defense, Ukraine Oversight Dashboard
- Global Initiative, Monitoring Illicit Arms Flows From the Conflict in Ukraine
- Department of Defense, U.S. Defense Officials Ensure Accountability of Systems Supplied to Ukraine
- Global Initiative, A New Phase of Arms Trafficking in Ukraine
- Global Initiative, Smoke on the Horizon: Trends in Arms Trafficking From the Conflict in Ukraine
- U.N. Office of Drug and Crime, Addressing the Linkages Between Illicit Arms, Organized Crime and Armed Conflict
- U.S. Department of State, U.S. Security Cooperation with Ukraine
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The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is partnering with Gigafact to produce timely fact briefs, or quick-response fact checks, about trending claims relating to Arizona.
