BATFE - Project Gunrunner

[Paslode]

The lot numbers of some of the grenades recovered, including the grenade used in the attack on Televisa, indicate that previously ordnance with these same lot numbers may have been sold by the USG [U.S. Government] to the El Salvadoran military in the early 1990s via the Foreign Military Sales program. We would like to thank AmEmbassy San Salvador for its ongoing efforts to query the Government of El Salvador as whether any of its stocks of grenades and other munitions have been diverted or are otherwise unaccounted for. [Emphasis added.]

There was some talk among [U.S.] task force members about a ... gun-making operation ongoing in or around Oxacha, Mexico, more like a “refurbish” type operation from old stored weapons from the old Contra days (1980-‘90 era). [There’s] a lot of those weapons still around Panama and El Salvador. I was told most of those old weapons were “burned out" and of not much value. However, if there was a supplier or someone who could retrofit these weapons [they] could be fixed and moved just about anywhere....

five top officials with a gun manufacturer called Sabre Defence Industries LLC stand accused of illegally trafficking gun parts, such as gun barrels and components, on an international scale.

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/not...repower-mexico

[tonyz]

“It’s unclear how cartels are getting military grade weapons,” the AP report states.

It is becoming abundantly clear (to any rationally thinking person) that the cartels are not obtaining military grade weapons from the mom and pop gun shops along the border. Substantial BATF resources being allocated to these US retailers is wasteful.

[DJ Urbanovsky]

I'd be curious to know the stats on how many recovered firearms have their origins in the Eastern Bloc or China, but we'll probably never see those figures... And nobody is talking about the weapons that Mexicans are smuggling into the US.

You can't even legally own a firearm in Mexico if it's chambered in a military caliber - that's why .38 super is so popular down there.

As has been said, this whole debacle is just an excuse to foist the blame for Mexico's problems upon the US, and an excuse for another attempted clamp down on the 2nd Amendment rights of US citizens.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by tonyz

“It’s unclear how cartels are getting military grade weapons,” the AP report states.

It is becoming abundantly clear (to any rationally thinking person) that the cartels are not obtaining military grade weapons from the mom and pop gun shops along the border. Substantial BATF resources being allocated to these US retailers is wasteful.

The Truth About Mexican Drug Cartels’ Arsenal: Follow the Grenades

http://thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/02...-the-grenades/

The story has pulled key messages from WikieLeaks on where some of the grenades came from - and they didn't come from Bob's Gun Shop down the block.

Most of the messages start with (S) so I'll not quote them here.

[tonyz]

Good post Pete - a great deal of information can be gleaned from the link that you provided - thank you.

Among the information was a press release - it appears that Feinstein and her ilk are using the violence in Mexico and along our border to float the idea of a return to a ban on certain firearms - what was it that we heard in the early days of the BHO administration - never let a crisis go to waste.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Senator Feinstein Urges President Obama to Prohibit Imported Assault Weapons

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein urged President Obama to prohibit the importation of military-style assault firearms that contribute to violence in the United States and Mexico.

Excerpts:

"I write to urge you to review enforcement of the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA) provision, 18 U.S. Code Section 925(d)(3), which prohibits the importation of firearms except those that are “generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes.” Previous Administrations have used this authority to limit the importation of military-style assault firearms, and it could once again be a helpful tool in preventing the gun trafficking that is fueling the horrific gun violence in Mexico, the Southwest border region, and many cities and towns across our nation.

"Since the Clinton Administration’s efforts, the GCA’s prohibition against non-sporting firearms has not been aggressively enforced, and many military-style, non-sporting rifles have flowed into the United States civilian market."

"Regrettably, firearms trafficked from the United States help fuel the violence in Mexico. Of the firearms recovered by the Government of Mexico and traced through ATF in the past 4 years, more than 50,000 were manufactured in, or imported into, the United States prior to being recovered in Mexico. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and other federal, state and local law enforcement are working to stop this gun trafficking and related violence, but they need additional help. The Administration recently took an important step forward with ATF’s initiative to collect information on multiple sales of semi-automatic assault rifles from Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. I applaud you for this initiative. However, much more must be done."

"I urge you to review enforcement of the GCA and take any regulatory steps necessary to stop the both the importation of all military-style, non-sporting firearms, and the assembly of those firearms from imported parts. We must ensure that law enforcement has all the necessary resources and tools needed to stop the gun violence that is taking a deadly toll in Mexico and in our country. I look forward to working with you toward that goal. Thank you for your attention to this urgent issue."


http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/i...c-e323f139589b



NRA response:

http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Fe...d.aspx?id=6207


Excerpts:

Of course, while the BATFE deserves criticism for its repeated misinterpretations of the law, and Feinstein deserves criticism for encouraging yet another misinterpretation, the primary problem is the law's "sporting purpose" limitation. Imposed in 1968, in the pre-Right-to-Carry and pre-Heller days, when government enjoyed a near monopoly on the use of armed defense outside a person's home, the law is ripe for a remedy in Congress or the courts.

NRA members can help right now by sending their comments to the BATFE concerning its working group's proposal to ban the importation of shotguns that have magazines that hold over five rounds, rail systems for lighting devices, adjustable stocks, and other features listed in the group's report.

Comments should be sent to BATFE no later than May 1, 2011, at shotgunstudy@atf.gov, or by fax to (202) 648-9601. Faxed comments may not exceed 5 pages. All comments must include name and mailing address.

[Chris Cram]

I received the following link this afternoon… What a CF.
http://oregonfirearms.org/alertspage...1%20alert.html

02.24.11 MAINSTREAM MEDIA FINALLY GETS IT.
CBS News has produced a segment on the outrageous and deadly actions of the BATFE who have been expediting the transfer of thousands of firearms to Mexican drug cartels.

Those weapons are now being used against US Agents on the border.

While we welcome any attention from the establishment media, we think it's essential that gun owners know who did the work that led to this story finally seeing the light of day.

It's been a long time coming, but the tireless and courageous efforts of Mike Vanderboegh of Sipsey Street Irregulars and our friend David Codrea of Gun Rights Examiner are behind this story finally getting some mainstream airtime.

Needless to say, the ATF will use whatever means and methods available to them to cover up the truth and intimidate the whistle blowers. But thanks to David and Mike, the truth is out there.

[tonyz]

High level corruption in Mexico does not bode well for BATF agents on the ground - in addition to the mess created by the thousands of walked guns.

This will get worse before it gets better.


Ex-Calderón guard leaked secrets to drug cartels
By Diana Washington Valdez / El Paso Times
Posted: 02/22/2011 12:00:00 AM MST

EXCERPTS:

“A Mexican officer assigned to guard President Felipe Calderón was accused of leaking information to drug cartels in exchange for bribes, training hit men through a private security firm, and supplying military weapons to groups like the Zetas, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable.

The document also said another official who worked for Calderón leaked a copy of the president's medical file to one of the cartels.

Concerning the accused military officer, "the cartels were using the information to avoid heightened security around the president, not to target him personally," said the document disclosed by online whistleblower WikiLeaks.”
“ICE Special Agent Victor Avila of El Paso was wounded, while ICE Special Agent Jaime Zapata of Brownsville died at the scene. They were assigned to liaison duties in Mexico.

Mexican and U.S. officials said their investigation into the roadside attack is ongoing.

Former ICE official Miguel Contreras said he was not surprised by the infiltration of cartel assets in Mexico's military and law enforcement.
"I was at a gathering in Mexico more than 20 years ago when the first commander of the Mexican Federal Judicial Police pulled out a copy of a DEA report that was about him and read it to us," Contreras said. "He told us he knew the DEA agent who wrote the report, and he also told us that 'whatever you do or write, we are going to know about it.' The DEA report he had was a sensitive document that someone had leaked to him."

The U.S. diplomatic cable dated Jan. 20, 2009, said that Mexican officials tried to downplay "the seriousness of the breach" related to the army officer's bribery case.

"The second unsettling aspect of the case is that González apparently had been on the cartel payroll since 2005, during which time he held different positions in the government," the U.S. cable said. "As he changed assignments, he was kept on as a cartel asset, and the nature of his involvement with the cartels changed."

http://www.elpasotimes.com/juarez/ci_17442613.%C2%A0

http://www.wikileaks.ch/origin/68_0.html

[incarcerated]

Originally Posted by Chris Cram

I received the following link this afternoon… What a CF.
http://oregonfirearms.org/alertspage...1%20alert.html

From the CBS web site:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/...20035609.shtml

Gunrunning scandal uncovered at the ATF

Program aimed at stopping the flow of weapons from the US to Mexico may have allegedly had the opposite effect
By Sharyl Attkisson
February 23, 2011
....In late 2009, ATF was alerted to suspicious buys at seven gun shops in the Phoenix area. Suspicious because the buyers paid cash, sometimes brought in paper bags. And they purchased classic "weapons of choice" used by Mexican drug traffickers - semi-automatic versions of military type rifles and pistols.

Sources tell CBS News several gun shops wanted to stop the questionable sales, but ATF encouraged them to continue.

Jaime Avila was one of the suspicious buyers. ATF put him in its suspect database in January of 2010. For the next year, ATF watched as Avila and other suspects bought huge quantities of weapons supposedly for "personal use." They included 575 AK-47 type semi-automatic rifles.

ATF managers allegedly made a controversial decision: allow most of the weapons on the streets. The idea, they said, was to gather intelligence and see where the guns ended up. Insiders say it's a dangerous tactic called letting the guns, "walk."

One agent called the strategy "insane." Another said: "We were fully aware the guns would probably be moved across the border to drug cartels where they could be used to kill."

On the phone, one Project Gunrunner source (who didn't want to be identified) told us just how many guns flooded the black market under ATF's watchful eye. "The numbers are over 2,500 on that case by the way. That's how many guns were sold - including some 50-calibers they let walk."

50-caliber weapons are fearsome. For months, ATF agents followed 50-caliber Barrett rifles and other guns believed headed for the Mexican border, but were ordered to let them go. One distraught agent was often overheard on ATF radios begging and pleading to be allowed to intercept transports. The answer: "Negative. Stand down."

CBS News has been told at least 11 ATF agents and senior managers voiced fierce opposition to the strategy. "It got ugly..." said one. There was "screaming and yelling" says another. A third warned: "this is crazy, somebody is gonna to get killed."

Sure enough, the weapons soon began surfacing at crime scenes in Mexico - dozens of them sources say - including shootouts with government officials.

One agent argued with a superior asking, "are you prepared to go to the funeral of a federal officer killed with one of these guns?" Another said every time there was a shooting near the border, "we would all hold our breath hoping it wasn't one of 'our' guns."

Then, Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered. The serial numbers on the two assault rifles found at the scene matched two rifles ATF watched Jaime Avila buy in Phoenix nearly a year before. Officials won't answer whether the bullet that killed Terry came from one of those rifles. But the nightmare had come true: "walked" guns turned up at a federal agent's murder.

"You feel like s***. You feel for the parents," one ATF veteran told us.

Hours after Agent Terry was gunned down, ATF finally arrested Avila. They've since indicted 34 suspected gunrunners in the same group. But the indictment makes no mention of Terry's murder, and no one is charged in his death....

In a letter, the Justice Department which oversees ATF says the agency has never knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons to suspected gunrunners.

[Paslode]

Originally Posted by incarcerated

In a letter, the Justice Department which oversees ATF says the agency has never knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons to suspected gunrunners.

Right, they never knew a thing...Plausible deniability...I love it! I wonder how the DOJ will handle this BATFE fiasco since they don't have a David Koresch or Randy Weaver to pin the blame on this time.

[Pete]

ATF let hundreds of U.S. weapons........

http://www.publicintegrity.org/articles/entry/2976/

"Hoping to score a major prosecution of Mexican drug lords, federal prosecutors and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives permitted hundreds of guns to be purchased and retained by suspected straw buyers with the expectation they might cross the border and even be used in crimes while the case was being built, according to documents and interviews. ........"

And what we've known for a while.....

"..........In May 2010, a Customs and Border Protection agent confronted an armed band of gangsters along the U.S. side of the border. The suspects fled but some of the guns they left behind were traced back to weapons purchased by one of the suspects targeted in Fast and Furious, Dodson said.

Then in December, two weapons recovered at the scene of a murdered Customs and Border Protection agent, Brian Terry, were traced to the ATF operation, according to Sen.Grassley............."

[Paslode]

White House press secretary Jay Carney did not shed any light Monday on the allegations uncovered by CBS News that ATF intentionally let thousands of assault rifles and other weapons fall into the hands of Mexico's drug cartels. Insiders call the controversial practice letting guns "walk."

In the wake of our CBS News investigation, Mexico has asked the U.S. for more information. Two AK-47 type variant assault rifles that ATF allegedly let "walk" were found at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry last December. Here's the excerpt from today's White House briefing:

CBS News chief White House correspondent Chip Reid: "Do you have any comment on the story and on these developments today?"

Carney: "I don't. Obviously, as the president pointed out when he spoke here with President Calderon, we take the issue of the flow of guns south very seriously, as we do the issue of the flow of drugs north. And -- but beyond that, I don't have any comment."

Reid: "Is he aware of this specific allegation..."

Carney: "I don't know."

Reid: "... that hundreds of guns went into Mexico with the knowledge of ATF?"

Carney: "I don't know."

Amazing how the Administration knows plenty about and has plenty of advice on and/or for Libya and all the other countries engulfed in these social networking revolutions that are making the rounds.....but they know little to nothing about our border.

[Paslode]

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, March 2009

"Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the deaths of police officers, soldiers and civilians. So, yes, I feel very strongly we have a co-responsibility."

President Obama said on April 16th 2009

"More than 90 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States."

A major scandal is developing around a signature U.S. effort to track and stop the flow of illicit weapons to Mexico, as officials at the Department of Justice close ranks, hoping to cover up an investigation critics say is responsible for an untold number of dead.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/03/09...candal-border/

[Paslode]

http://judiciary.house.gov/news/pdfs...r%20Letter.pdf

[tonyz]

That is an interesting letter to Holder - it may be more interesting to watch how he responds.

IMO, this may be one of those rare instances when it might be productive to name a special prosecutor to investigate this particular matter (fat chance).

Given the death of BATF personnel - allegedly involving BATF "walked guns" - I do not believe that an ordinary IG/AG investigation should be trusted to produce impartial results.

Considering the stakes involved - some might say that it is advisable for the AG to avoid even the mere appearance of impropriety - notwithstanding the fact that the AG may ultimately name the special prosecutor. After all, someone in power in DC must still have a shred of integrity left? - sorry - rhetorical question.

I have another idea...let's issue our guys on the border some bean bag guns...and nearly simultaneously walk some real good shit across that same border - while our politicians disingenuously scream bloody hell about scores and scores of US source firearms being used in violence along the border. Sometimes, I wonder whether the folks in DC are channeling Charlie Sheen for such hallucinatory insight. WINNING !

[JJ_BPK]

Originally Posted by Paslode

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, March 2009

"Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the deaths of police officers, soldiers and civilians. So, yes, I feel very strongly we have a co-responsibility."

President Obama said on April 16th 2009

"More than 90 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States."

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/03/09...candal-border/

These guys must be with ACORN??? Will they get a by from Holder..


Columbus, NM Mayor, Police Chief Accused By Feds Of Buying Guns To Illegally Export To Mexico

http://www.kvia.com/news/27146962/detail.html

Update: Columbus, N.M., City Leaders Arrested In Federal Raid

http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/27148177/detail.html

Or is Holder only after those that don't contribute VIG???