Mexico says US arming drug gangs

Related story: Mexico asks U.S. to help stop arms flow

Mexico May 15 called upon the US to prevent weapons from landing in the hands of drug gangs that increasingly use them to kill soldiers and police. "The firepower we are seeing here has to do with a lack of control on that side of the border," Assistant Secretary of Public Safety Patricio Patiño told the Associated Press. Patiño said that earlier that day, federal agents arrested two gunmen carrying assault rifles and half a dozen hand grenades in the city of Morelia, Michoacán—apparently on their way to carry out a hit. The escalating attacks on security forces come in response to a "radical change" in Mexico's law enforcement strategy, Patiño said, noting that Mexico is now going after the cartels' entire structures rather than just leaders.