Most of the weapons seized by authorities in Mexico over the last two years were manufactured in the United States, according to a report released Monday, Jan. 31, by the Foreign Relations Secretariat (SRE).

Mexican security forces seized 18,091 U.S.-made weapons between Jan. 1, 2020, and Nov. 18, 2021, an average of 812 guns or other firearms a month, the secretariat said.

Of the weapons seized, over 10,500 were handguns and more than 7,300 were shotguns.

Mexican authorities estimated that at least half a million pieces of weapons are brought to the country illegally each year from the United States and fall into the hands of criminals.

More than 3.9 million crimes are committed in Mexico each, with U.S.-made weapons, 70 percent of which can be tracked directly back to the United States, SRE said.

In a bid to decrease U.S. arms entering Mexico, the Mexican government filed a lawsuit against 11 U.S. arms manufacturers and distributors in August of last year.