Anti-tank missile launcher like those held by Ukraine seen in hands of Mexican cartel

A type of anti-tank missile launcher similar to those held by the Ukraine military has been spotted in the hands of Mexico's Gulf Cartel.

It has been reported that a militant affiliated with the cartel was spotted carrying an advanced rocket launcher, the same type that the US has been shipping to the Ukraine since 2018.

The rocket launcher was identified as a Raytheon-made Javelin anti-tank missile system by Azucena Uresti, a news anchor for Milenio TV, however some experts said it was in fact a Swedish-made AT-4, which Ukraine also has in its armoury.

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Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, more than 10,000 Javelins have been shipped from the US to fight against Vladimir Putin's army.

Some observers said the launcher shown in the TV report looks more like a Swedish-made AT-4 anti-armor system, which the US has also shipped to Ukraine.

Mark Hvizda, a defense analyst from RAND Corporation, an American nonprofit that conducts research on global public policy, said “the weapon in the clip is not a Javelin, but rather an AT4, another anti-tank weapon that fires grenades”.

The main difference between the two anti-tank weapons is that the Javelin fires a guided missile while an AT-4 munition is unguided, and the AT-4 is meant for just one use.

There have been multiple reports of arms winding up in the wrong hands since US and its allies began supplying Ukraine with weapons.

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Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said last year that “terrorists” in the Lake Chad region of Africa were armed with weapons from Ukraine.

“Regrettably, the situation in the Sahel and the raging war in Ukraine serve as major sources of weapons and fighters that bolster the ranks of the terrorists in the Lake Chad region,” Buhari said in November 2022.

In October 2022, Finland’s national law enforcement agency, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), warned in October that arms meant for Ukraine had wound up in the hands of criminal gangs in Finland.

The NBI also said that weapons meant for Ukraine were found in Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands.