In October 2009, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives launched Operation Fast and Furious. The idea was to encourage gun stores in border states to sell guns to smuggling gangs and then track the guns back to the heads of the Mexican drug cartels. In reality what occurred was the ATFE sitting back and watching as hundreds of semi-automatic rifles and pistols flowed over the border into Mexico and disappeared. This came to light when the investigation into the shooting death of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry uncovered that the guns used were some of those lost during Fast and Furious. Since then, the Department of Justice has labeled the operation as “botched,” and a number of people involved with Fast and Furious have resigned or been reassigned. Yesterday, the Justice Department’s previous defense of the operation – that they simply “lost track of” the guns as they were being transferred – took a major blow when new documents revealed that the ATFE actually sold guns directly to the smuggling gangs.1 All told, the smuggling gang got their hands on an estimated $1.25 million worth of guns. These guns have not only helped to fan flames of the nacro-war sweeping across Mexico (a war the Mexican authorities are losing), but have continued to be used to commit violent crimes in both Mexico and the U.S. as recently as the beginning of this month.2 This operation is just another wonderful example of how the U.S. government squanders our tax dollars. A border fence is just too expensive, but selling Mexican criminals hundreds of guns? That’s right up the federal government’s alley.
Footnotes
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