Mexico's government sued five Arizona gun dealers on Monday accusing them of participating in illicit weapons trafficking in an ongoing push to hold retailers responsible for the deadly trade. Mexican leaders have for years blasted illegal arms smuggling from the U.S., with military-style guns often turning up at deadly crime scenes in the country, Reuters reports. The new lawsuit follows last month's dismissal by a federal judge of a $10 billion lawsuit by Mexico against U.S. gun manufacturers seeking to hold them responsible for facilitating the trafficking of weapons to drug cartels. Mexico legal adviser Alejandro Celorio said the new lawsuit, filed in federal court in Arizona, focuses on "straw" sales of firearms to customers who purchase them for someone else.
"There is traceability information that shows that weapons that have been found in criminal scenes in Mexico were sold by those corporations we're suing today," Celorio said. The lawsuit names as defendants Sprague's Sports Inc; SnG Tactical, LLC; Diamondback Shooting Sports, Inc; Lone Prairie, LLC, D/B/A Hub Target Sports; and Ammo A-Z, LLC. "Each defendant knowingly participates in trafficking guns into Mexico," according to the lawsuit, which accuses the dealers of violating the U.S. anti-racketeering law known as RICO.