WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday tossed out a $10 billion lawsuit Mexico filed against top firearm manufacturers in the U.S. that claimed the companies’ business practices were helping fuel cartel violence plaguing the country.

In a victory for the firearm industry, the unanimous ruling tossed out the case under a U.S. law that largely shields gunmakers from liability when their firearms are used in crime.

Congress passed the law two decades ago to halt a flurry of lawsuits against gunmakers that were similar to the case Mexico filed, Justice Elena Kagan wrote. Her opinion overturned a lower court order that let the suit go forward because the companies themselves were accused of violating the law.

Kagan wrote that Mexico’s lawsuit made no plausible argument that the companies had knowingly helped gun trafficking into the country.

“It does not pinpoint, as most aiding-and-abetting claims do, any specific criminal transactions that the defendants (allegedly) assisted,” Kagan wrote.

— The Associated Press