90 percent of guns seized in Mexico are from United States
Richard A. Serrano, “U.S. guns arm Mexican drug cartels,” Los Angeles Times, August 10, 2008.
Arms Trafficking Market Value: $10 Billion
The size of the arms trafficking market is estimated to be $10 billion.
Source: Moises Naim, “Broken Borders,” Newsweek International, October 24, 2005,(accessed: October 18, 2006).
Estimated 2 million people working in the arms trafficking industry
Source: Bangladesh turned into arms smuggling route,” The Daily Star (Bangladesh), May 30, 2006.
639 million small arms are circulating around the world
Source: Rachel Stohl, ” The Tangled Web of Illicit Arms Trafficking,” Center for American Progress, October 14, 2004, (accessed: November 15, 2006).
70 to 100 million AK-47s in circulation worldwide
Source: William Hartung and Rachel Stohl, ” Hired Guns” , Foreign Policy, May/June 2004.
AK-47 price in the Niger Delta
Due to an increase in supply, the price of an AK-47 dropped from $250 to $75 in the Niger Delta over an 18 month period.
Source: Douglas Farah, ” The Merchant of death,” Foreign Policy, November/December 2006, Sidebox: Arms Around the [...]
One million small arms are either lost or stolen each year
Worldwide, an estimated one million small arms are either lost or stolen each year and often end up for sale in the black market.
Source: Rachel Stohl, ” The Tangled Web of Illicit Arms Trafficking,” Center for American Progress, October 14, 2004, (accessed: November 15, 2006).
Half a million weapons lost from small-scale burglary in US
Source: Rachel Stohl, ” The Tangled Web of Illicit Arms Trafficking,” Center for American Progress, October 14, 2004, (accessed: November 15, 2006).
60 percent of illegal small arms started out as legal transfers
Source: Larry Kahaner, AK-47: The Weapon That Changed The Face Of War, (New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 2007), pg. 177.
Prices of AK-47 in Iraq increased after war began
In Iraq, the prices of small arms have increased since the U.S. invasion. According to a report by the New York Times, Kalashnikovs were priced between $75 to $150 in early 2003. By late 2006, the prices increased to the range of $210 to $650. In some areas of Iraq, the price has increased to [...]
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