AZMEX F&F EXTRA 31 DEC 2013 Updated 2-1-14
Note: very surprised story made it to air / webpage on CNN. Many hundreds of Mexicans (Hispanics) still dead as a direct result of the scam. No one in U.S. govt; has yet been held accountable or brought to justice. Information on firearms recovered in Mexico has been suppressed for several years now. Story also getting local (AZ) coverage.
Fast and Furious gun turns up after Mexican resort shootout
By Evan Pérez, CNN Justice Reporter
updated 5:17 PM EST, Tue December 31, 2013
http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/31/justice/mexican-shootout-fast-and-furious/index.html?iref=allsearch
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
AK-47 style weapon found after Mexican shootout
U.S. official links it to botched Fast and Furious Operation
Weapons ended up in hands of Mexican cartels, gangsters
Washington (CNN) -- A dramatic shootout between authorities and suspected cartel gunmen at a Mexican seaside resort this month has ties to a botched U.S. gun operation.
A U.S. official said Tuesday that investigators have traced at least one firearm recovered at a December 18 gunfight in Puerto Peñasco, across from the Arizona border, to Operation Fast and Furious.
That's the disastrous operation run by agents in the Phoenix office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Agents allowed suspected gun smugglers to buy about 2,000 firearms with the goal of trying to find and prosecute high-level traffickers. They couldn't track the firearms and most are believed to have ended up with cartels and gangsters in Mexico.
Many have turned up at crime scenes in Mexico and the United States, including at a shooting that killed a U.S. border agent in 2010.
The shootout in Puerto Peñasco, also called Rocky Point by Arizona tourists, two weeks ago left at least five suspected cartel gunmen dead, including possibly a high level Sinaloa cartel chief, according to Mexican authorities.
Witnesses reported hours of shooting and grenade explosions, with Mexican authorities using helicopters to attack fleeing suspected cartel gunmen on the ground.
Guns recovered at such scenes are routinely checked with the ATF's tracing lab to try to determine their origin. At least one AK-47 style firearm was found, and U.S. investigators identified it as one that was allowed to be sold to suspected traffickers as part of Fast and Furious, according to the U.S. official.
The ATF, in a statement, said: "ATF has accepted responsibility for the mistakes made in the Fast and Furious investigation and at the attorney general's direction we have taken appropriate and decisive action to ensure that these errors will not be repeated. And we acknowledge that, regrettably, firearms related to the Fast and Furious investigation will likely continue to be recovered at future crime scenes."
Guns from Fast and Furious have turned up at other high-profile killings in Mexico, including those of the brother of a Mexican state prosecutor and of a beauty queen.
The Fast and Furious operation gave rise to more than a year of political controversy for the Justice Department.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, led a congressional probe to determine how it came to be approved.
Eventually, House Republicans sanctioned Attorney General Eric Holder for contempt of Congress in a legal dispute over the White House's refusal to turn over documents.
Holder has said tactics used in Fast and Furious never should have been allowed. A Justice Department inspector general report cleared Holder of wrongdoing and placed most blame on officials at the ATF and the Phoenix U.S. attorney's office for failing to properly oversee the agents running the operation.
END
Gun from botched 'Fast and Furious' operation turns up after Mexican resort shootout
Published January 02, 2014FoxNews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/01/02/gun-from-botched-fast-and-furious-operation-turns-up-after-mexican-resort/
A gun from the failed "Fast and Furious" operation has turned up after a shootout at a Mexican resort this month, Fox News confirms.
The gunfight took place between authorities and suspected cartel gunmen at a seaside Mexican resort on Dec. 18 in Puerto Peñasco.
The gun was found and traced through the owner of the Lone Wolf gun store -- the man at the center of the "Furious" scandal for selling most of the weapons in cooperation with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The gun was purchased on Sept. 14, 2010.
Fast and Furious was a 2006-2011 ATF operation in which the agency allowed hundreds of guns to be sold to Mexican drug traffickers in hopes the weapons would lead them to cartel leaders.
However, some of the guns began turning up at murder scenes along the Arizona-Mexico border, including at the 2010 killing of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry. And hundreds of other weapons still remain missing.
The resort shootout left at least five suspected cartel gunmen dead, including possibly a high level Sinaloa cartel chief, Mexican authorities told CNN.
Witnesses told CNN that gunfire, as well as grenade explosions, took place for hours and Mexican authorities used helicopters to attack cartel gunmen on the ground.
"ATF has accepted responsibility for the mistakes made in the Fast and Furious investigation and at the attorney general's direction we have taken appropriate and decisive action to ensure that these errors will not be repeated," ATF said in a statement. "And we acknowledge that, regrettably, firearms related to the Fast and Furious investigation will likely continue to be recovered at future crime scenes."
Fox News' Laura Prabucki contributed to this report.
From: Noah Rothman
Sent: Tuesday, December 31, 2013 2:19 PM
Subject: CNN: 'Fast and Furious' Guns Still Showing Up at Murder Scenes in Mexico
A CNN report broadcast on Tuesday revealed that gun released to Mexican gangs as part of the Fast and Furious "gun-walking" operation are continuing to show up at scenes of violence sound of the American border. According to the CNN report, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives acknowledged that more weapons released into Mexico are likely to continue surfacing in the coming years.
The latest Fast and Furious weapon to be acquired by authorities was used in a December 18 shootout in Puerto Penasco, Mexico.
CNN acquired video of the shootout, posted to YouTube, which featured audio of the violent gun battle between Mexican gangs and authorities. Five people were killed in the shootout, including a "senior member" of a Mexican drug cartel, CNN's Evan Perez reported.
RELATED: Rep. Issa Asked If He Is 'Showboating' With Fast And Furious On Face The Nation
"The ATF has accepted responsibility for the mistakes made in the Fast and Furious investigation," an ATF statement obtained by CNN read, "and, at the Attorney General's direction, we have taken appropriate and decisive action to ensure that these errors will not be repeated."
"And we acknowledge that, regrettably, firearms related to Fast and Furious investigation will likely continue to be recovered at future crime scenes," the statement concluded.
Watch the clip below via CNN:
[Photo via screen grab ]
— –
> >Follow Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) on Twitter
No comments:
Post a Comment