Mexico sharply increased its legal arms imports from Israel in 2025, with purchases rising from 1,572 units in 2024 to 7,649 in one year, according to official Arms Trade Treaty filings reviewed in a new investigation.
The increase made Israel the fastest-growing supplier in Mexico’s reported legal arms market. The United States remained Mexico’s largest source.
The figures cover arms acquired through formal channels for Mexico’s armed forces, public security agencies, and authorized users. They do not describe weapons smuggled into the country or seized from criminal groups.
Israeli weapons move up Mexico’s procurement list
Mexico’s annual filings under the Arms Trade Treaty show a fast rise in Israeli-origin weapons after a smaller total the previous year. The treaty system requires member countries to report authorized or actual exports and imports of conventional arms.
A broader review of the same filings found Mexico imported at least 72,886 conventional weapons from 2023 through 2025. The review said 2024 purchases included 5,120 assault rifles made by Israel Weapon Industries, known as IWI, for public security agencies.
Other reported imports included light machine guns, portable grenade launchers, and specialized weapons used by security forces. The filings do not offer a full public inventory by agency, state, or city.
Mexico’s Diario Oficial published a separate SEDENA procurement notice in September 2024 naming Israel Weapon Industries as the winning bidder for 9 mm pistols and magazines for the Military Police Corps. The listed contract amount was 1,776,132 dollars.
The purchase notice is a useful window into how some of these acquisitions move through government channels. It also shows that the Israel-Mexico arms relationship is not limited to rifles or battlefield-style equipment.
Legal imports sit beside Mexico’s smuggling crisis
The numbers land in a country already locked in a long fight over weapons. Most public attention has centered on illegal firearms entering Mexico from the United States, where Mexican officials have argued that trafficked guns strengthen criminal groups.
That is a different category from the Israeli imports in the treaty filings. These are reported legal purchases, not weapons recovered in raids. The distinction matters because it points to Mexican procurement decisions, security planning, and agency equipment needs rather than cartel supply routes.
PVDN has previously covered how U.S. gun smuggling keeps Mexico cartels supplied, a separate problem from the state purchases described in the treaty records. Another PVDN report on a weapons seizure during a Navy operation showed the kind of arms and tactical equipment authorities say they continue to encounter in criminal investigations.
The two issues are often discussed together, but they should not be conflated. One is about weapons bought by the state. The other is about illegal firepower moving through criminal markets.
SEDENA controls firearms imports
Mexico tightly regulates the importation of firearms, ammunition, explosives, and related materials. Federal customs guidance states that these goods fall under SEDENA control and that permits are required before they can enter the country.
That system applies to government acquisitions and authorized civilian imports. It also sets a hard line for travelers. Firearms, cartridges, magazines, and explosives are not ordinary luggage items under Mexican law.
The treaty data does not say why Israel’s share rose so quickly in 2025. It does show a clear shift in Mexico’s legal arms supply chain at a time when public security agencies remain under pressure to confront heavily armed criminal groups.
