U.S. urged dealer to continue gun sales despite concerns, inquiry finds
The Arizona gun dealer repeatedly raised red flags about weapons
ending up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels as part of Project
Gunrunner, but his concerns were brushed aside, congressional
investigators say.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-
guns-20110415,0,132336.story
By Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times
April 15, 2011
The investigation into a federal operation that allowed Mexican drug
cartels to acquire U.S. weapons escalated Thursday with new
revelations that an Arizona gun dealer repeatedly expressed fears
that his guns were falling into the "hands of the bad guys" but was
encouraged by federal agents to continue the sales.
A series of emails released by congressional investigators showed
that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
encouraged the gun dealer against his better judgment to sell high-
powered weapons to buyers he believed were agents for the drug cartels.
Employees of the dealer videotaped gun buyers — suspected "straw
purchasers" who could legally buy the guns, though cartel members
could not — exchanging money with other individuals on the dealer's
premises.
The aim of the ATF program, called Project Gunrunner, was to gather
intelligence on suspicious weapons sales and arrest senior members of
international trafficking chains.
In an eerie case of premonition, the gun dealer expressed fears that
the guns he was selling could be used against U.S. border agents.
"I wanted to make sure that none of the firearms that were sold per
our conversation with you and various ATF agents could or would ever
end up south of the border or in the hands of the bad guys," the
dealer, who has not been named, wrote in June 2010 to David Voth, the
lead ATF case agent in Phoenix. "I want to help ATF with its
investigation but not at the risk of agents' safety, because I have
some very close friends that are U.S. Border Patrol agents in
southern AZ."
Three guns sold to suspects who were part of Project Gunrunner have
since turned up at the scenes of the deaths of two U.S. agents — in
the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi and near the Mexican border in
Arizona.
"Not only were the ATF agents who later blew the whistle [on the
investigation] predicting that this operation would end in tragedy,
so were the gun dealers — even as ATF urged them to make the sales,"
Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, said in a letter with the new emails to Atty.
Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr.
The Justice Department in its only official response to the
congressional inquiry denied that the ATF "sanctioned" or "otherwise
knowingly allowed" the sale of assault weapons to straw purchasers,
who then transported them to Mexico.
The new emails suggest that the Arizona gun dealer was seeking
assurances from the ATF and the U.S. attorney's office that the
company would not be held responsible if someone got hurt with guns
that ended up in the hands of gunrunners.
Voth, the ATF agent, wrote to the dealer: "I understand that the
frequency with which some individuals under investigation by our
office have been purchasing firearms from your business has caused
concerns for you. … However, if it helps put you at ease we (ATF) are
continually monitoring these suspects using a variety of
investigative techniques which I cannot go into [in] detail."
News reports in June 2010 that guns purchased in the U.S. were being
found at Mexican crime scenes prompted the dealer to again express
concerns.
"I shared my concerns with you guys that I wanted to make sure that
none of the firearms that were sold per our conversation with you and
various ATF agents could or would ever end up south of the border or
in the hands of the bad guys," the dealer wrote, adding that the
reports are "disturbing."
On "one or two" occasions when the dealer's employees videotaped a
suspected straw purchaser exchanging money with another person, the
ATF urged that the sale go forward, but the employees refused,
Grassley said in his letter.
"In light of this new evidence, the Justice Department's claim that
the ATF never knowingly sanctioned or allowed the sale of assault
weapons to straw purchasers is simply not credible," Grassley wrote.
Thousands of guns were sold to straw purchasers under Project
Gunrunner. The ATF has acknowledged that at least 195 U.S. firearms
sold to suspected straw purchasers have been recovered in Mexico, but
agents have said thousands slipped outside ATF oversight.
Arizona gun shop told ATF that sting was dangerous
by Dennis Wagner - Apr. 15, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/04/15/20110415arizona-
guns-shops-atf-sting.html
Federal agents and prosecutors last year encouraged Arizona gun
dealers to sell firearms to buyers for Mexican cartels even after the
store owners fretted that weapons might be used to kill Border Patrol
agents, according to e-mails obtained by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.
Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a
letter to Attorney General Eric Holder that the e-mails refute
earlier Justice Department denials. The e-mails were exchanged by a
federal agent and an Arizona gun dealer last April and June.
"In light of this new evidence, the Justice Department's claim that
the ATF never knowingly sanctioned or allowed the sale of assault
weapons to straw purchasers is simply not credible," Grassley wrote
in the letter sent Wednesday.
The letter and e-mails were made public Thursday.
Justice Department officials in Washington, D.C., could not be
reached late Thursday, and a spokesman for the federal Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives declined to comment.
The controversy stems from Operation Fast and Furious, an Arizona
investigation in which agents monitored weapons and buyers after
suspicious sales in an effort to track guns to cartel members.
After U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed in a December
shootout near Nogales, Ariz., two AK-47s found at the scene were
traced to Operation Fast and Furious. They had been purchased in
Glendale 11 months earlier.
Federal authorities previously denied that gun-store owners were
encouraged to continue selling firearms to cartel operatives, some of
whom visited shops repeatedly, purchasing dozens of assault rifles.
The e-mails released by Grassley contradict those statements. In
correspondence with an unidentified gun dealer last April, ATF
Supervisor David Voth wrote:
"I understand that the frequency with which some individuals under
investigation by our office have been purchasing firearms from your
business has caused concerns for you. . . . However, if it helps put
you at ease, we are continually monitoring these suspects using a
variety of investigative techniques which I cannot go into (in) detail."
The firearms vendor responded by asking for a letter to ensure that
he would not face repercussions for selling dozens of weapons to a
suspected criminal: "I want to help ATF with its investigation, but
not at the risk of agents' safety because I have some very close
friends that are U.S. Border Patrol agents in southern Arizona."
Terry was killed six months later in a firefight with suspected
border bandits. No one has been charged in the slaying.
In the letter to Holder, Grassley said the Justice Department's
depiction of Operation Fast and Furious "is simply not credible."
He also rebuked the Justice Department for failing to provide records
that he began seeking in February.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix on Thursday issued a statement
that did not address Grassley's criticisms or the e-mails. It said
federal prosecutors are restricted from commenting about ongoing
cases. It also said the Justice Department "will respond to Senator
Grassley's letter as appropriate, and this office will continue to
enforce the federal firearms laws vigorously."
U.S. and Mexican justice authorities have complained for years that
cartel bloodshed is fueled in part by the illegal flow of weapons,
mostly AK-47s, purchased in the United States and smuggled unlawfully
across the border.
Operation Fast and Furious culminated three months ago with 34
arrests and 700 gun seizures.
At the time, Bill Newell, special agent in charge for Arizona,
insisted that no guns had been intentionally allowed to enter Mexico.
In addition to claiming the ATF allowed straw buys, agency
whistleblowers and some critics also have alleged that agents
knowingly allowed hundreds of firearms out of the country, hoping to
track the weapons to cartel bosses in Mexico rather than to low-level
players in the United States.
Justice Department and ATF officials previously discounted
allegations that agents intentionally let weapons be smuggled into
Mexico on their watch. Weapons linked to the Fast and Furious
investigation entered Mexico, officials said, because the guns were
purchased before suspects came under surveillance or because straw
buyers managed to slip away while being monitored.
An investigation is being conducted by the Justice Department's
Office of the Inspector General.
Fast and Furious was part of a larger ATF campaign, Project
Gunrunner, launched in 2006 to combat the weapons trafficking.
An inspector general's report last year criticized the bureau for
catching only straw buyers, or minnows.
Reports that hundreds of guns were allowed across the border in
pursuit of bigger fish have generated outrage among some Mexican
lawmakers and a demand for information from the government's Foreign
Ministry.
Reach the reporter at dennis.wagner@arizonarepublic.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment