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).

According to the Center for American Progress, only one third of the 875 million small and light arms in circulation around the world, or 291 million,  are held by legitimate security forces.

Source: Rachel Stohl and EJ Hogendoorn, “Stopping the Destructive Spread of Small Arms,” Center for American Progress, March 10, 2010.

There are over one million illegal guns in the Philippines.

Source:  Norimitsu Onishi, “Sinatra Song Often Strikes Deadly Chord,” New York Times, February 6, 2010.

From A Crime So Monstrous by E. Benjamin Skinner:

The market price for the guns was greater than the price for the children themselves. In 1986, an AK-47 cost ten cows, or about $1,000. By 2001, a glut of guns (and dearth of cows) shrank the cost to two cows, or about $86 along the Sudan-Uganda border. The child market was more volatile. In early 1987, after al-Mahdi began his counterinsurgency, a Dinka boy cost $90. By 1990, as supply swelled, the price fell to $15. At the time of my visit, CSI had agreed to pay $33 per slave.

Source: E Benjamin Skinner, A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery, (New York: Free Press,2008), page 82.

North Korea is estimated to earn up to $1 Billion a year from illegal arms trafficking.

Source:  Simon Tisdall, “North Korean plane carrying smuggled arms seized in Thailand,” Guardian, December 13, 2009.

90 percent of all weapons smuggled into Mexico is believed to be for the 4 major drug cartels in Mexico.

• Sinaloa Cartel
• Gulf Cartel
• Tijuana Cartel
• Juarez Cartel

Security analysts state that these smuggled weapons are the main reason that the drug cartels are better equiped than law enforcement in Mexico.

Source: Alejandra Labanca, “U.S. businesses at risk of becoming targets of Mexican drug cartels,” Miami Herald, September 30, 2009.

10 states supplied more than half of the guns that crossed state lines before being found at crime scenes in 2007.

The top 10 states:

1. Georgia

2. Florida

3. Texas

4. Virginia

5. California

6. Ohio

7. North Carolina

8. Indiana

9. Pennsylvania

10.  Alabama

Source: Mayors Against Illegal Guns, “The Movement of Illegal Guns in America: The Link between Gun Laws and Interstate Gun Trafficking,” December 2008.

From 2007 to mid-2009, law enforcement in Mexico seized 65 tons of cocaine and more than 9.3 million pounds of marijuana.

In addition, 4,220 weapons were seized in 2006, and 9,500 weapons were seized in 2007.

Source: Ginger Thompson and Marc Lacey, “Mexico Drug Fight Fuels Complaints,” New York Times, August 18, 2009.

The Italian Mafia was able to generate $83 Billion (59 Billion Euros) from drug trafficking in 2008.  In addition, $8 Billion (5.8 Billion Euros) was earned from arms trafficking.

Source: Flavia Krause-Jackson, “Italian Mob Revenue Surges to $167 Billion From 2007,” Bloomberg, January 30, 2009.

The UK Home Office reports that one in five organized crime gangs in the country is involved in the import, modification or supply of illegal arms.

Source:  “Extending Our Reach: A Comprehensive Approach to Tackling Serious Organised Crime,” UK Home Office, July 2009.