U.S. Army Factory Arms Mexican Cartels

Feb 16, 2026

Ammunition made in a U.S. Army-owned factory is being sold commercially and is used by cartels in Mexico to terrorize and kill civilians and make war with Mexican police.

This ammunition includes cigar-sized .50-caliber armor-piercing rounds capable of destroying tanks and helicopters, designed for the U.S. military. They are made at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant outside Kansas City, Missouri. It’s the largest small-arms manufacturing plant in the world, capable of producing almost two billion rounds a year, employing 2,000 workers. The plant is owned by the Army but since 1941 has been operated by private contractors including Remington, Winchester, ATK, and Northrop Grumman.

The plant’s injury rate remains almost four times higher than the industry average, with fatal explosions in 1981, 1990, 1991, 2011, and 2017. Layoffs and wage cuts led workers to organize a union over a decade ago. It’s also a Superfund site with 73 burn pits, lagoons, and other areas contaminated with heavy metals and other toxic chemicals.

When the Cold War ended in the early 1990s, the U.S. military promised a “peace dividend.” In part this would come from cutting military costs by letting military-owned factories sell munitions commercially to civilians. The contractor pays the military five percent of commercial sales revenue. It’s a “win-win situation,” we are told.

Ammunition is big money. The plant now sells half its daily production of four million rounds to civilians through 16 online retailers, earning the Army between 30 and 50 million dollars a year. Bullet prices more than doubled from 2000 to 2020.

Mexican officials say that more than three quarters of the bullets used in crimes in Mexico come from the U.S. This is not a question of anyone’s right to protect their family. The world’s biggest military is helping private companies profit from arming violent criminals.