31-03-2009, 05:06 PM
What about the
By Todd Bensman - Express-News
Most of the weapons found in the largest gun seizure in Mexican history have been traced by federal ATF agents to Texas retailers.
The Mexican army's raid on a Reynosa stash house in November found a trove of drug cartel weapons that included 540 rifles, 165 hand grenades, 500,000 rounds of ammunition, TNT and other munitions.
Officials with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said they were able to trace 383 serial numbers from rifles seized in the raid and that 80 percent of those weapons came from licensed firearms dealers in Texas, primarily along the border.
ATF officials declined to provide the names of specific retailers on grounds that public disclosure could compromise investigations that could lead them to smuggling rings.
The remainder of the firearms came from licensed dealers in seven other U.S. states, among them Michigan, Illinois, Louisiana and Virginia. It was unclear why trace information for other weapons counted in the stash house was unaccounted for, said the ATF's Texas spokeswoman, Francesca Perot.
Mexican officials have repeatedly cited the Reynosa seizure as emblematic of the southern flow of powerful firearms from U.S. retailers, about which they have long complained to their American counterparts.
Responding to Mexican pressure to do more to stem weapons smuggling to drug cartels, President Barack Obama last week ordered 170 more agents to the border to crack down on gun smuggling.
The agents, who more than double the ranks of investigators who have pursued smugglers and their “straw buyers” who purchase weapons for the cartels at licensed retailers, will be deployed mostly in Texas, the center of illegal gunrunning from the U.S.
The traces of the Reynosa guns “created a substantial number of leads,” said Robert Elder, assistant special agent in charge of the ATF Houston field division, which has jurisdiction over hundreds of miles of border. “That is going to be a top priority for the folks that are going to be joining us.”
To deal with the problem, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder this week plan to attend an arms-trafficking conference in Mexico.
The bust in Reynosa, across the Rio Grande from McAllen, came after a Nov. 7 gunbattle with the Gulf Cartel's paramilitary enforcers.
The army raid uncovered a depot under the control of a notorious cartel lieutenant named Jaime “Hummer” Gonzalez Duran, who ran all aspects of the drug trafficking business — including enforcement to collect debts or eliminate rivals — between Reynosa and McAllen, according to interviews with FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration officials.
For at least two years before the weapons seizure, the DEA's Houston office had been after Gonzalez and his cell, in an investigation known as “Dos Equis.”
Gonzalez and 11 associates were indicted on federal trafficking charges in September. In October, a confidential FBI memo obtained by the San Antonio Express-News warned border police that Gonzalez and his group of Zetas hit men were amassing weapons for attacks against U.S. law enforcement.
The memo said one of Gonzalez's safe houses was discovered in Mission. It was stockpiled with assault weapons and tactical vests.
“Each cell leader has been personally instructed by Hummer to engage law enforcement with a full tactical response should law enforcement attempt to intervene in their operations,” the memo said.
Shortly after the FBI sent out its alert, DEA agents told their Mexican counterparts where they believed Gonzalez was hiding out, said Houston-based DEA Special Agent Violet Szeleczky.
Within 24 hours, Mexican authorities captured Gonzalez in the Reynosa gunbattle.
By Todd Bensman - Express-News
Most of the weapons found in the largest gun seizure in Mexican history have been traced by federal ATF agents to Texas retailers.
The Mexican army's raid on a Reynosa stash house in November found a trove of drug cartel weapons that included 540 rifles, 165 hand grenades, 500,000 rounds of ammunition, TNT and other munitions.
Officials with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said they were able to trace 383 serial numbers from rifles seized in the raid and that 80 percent of those weapons came from licensed firearms dealers in Texas, primarily along the border.
ATF officials declined to provide the names of specific retailers on grounds that public disclosure could compromise investigations that could lead them to smuggling rings.
The remainder of the firearms came from licensed dealers in seven other U.S. states, among them Michigan, Illinois, Louisiana and Virginia. It was unclear why trace information for other weapons counted in the stash house was unaccounted for, said the ATF's Texas spokeswoman, Francesca Perot.
Mexican officials have repeatedly cited the Reynosa seizure as emblematic of the southern flow of powerful firearms from U.S. retailers, about which they have long complained to their American counterparts.
Responding to Mexican pressure to do more to stem weapons smuggling to drug cartels, President Barack Obama last week ordered 170 more agents to the border to crack down on gun smuggling.
The agents, who more than double the ranks of investigators who have pursued smugglers and their “straw buyers” who purchase weapons for the cartels at licensed retailers, will be deployed mostly in Texas, the center of illegal gunrunning from the U.S.
The traces of the Reynosa guns “created a substantial number of leads,” said Robert Elder, assistant special agent in charge of the ATF Houston field division, which has jurisdiction over hundreds of miles of border. “That is going to be a top priority for the folks that are going to be joining us.”
To deal with the problem, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder this week plan to attend an arms-trafficking conference in Mexico.
The bust in Reynosa, across the Rio Grande from McAllen, came after a Nov. 7 gunbattle with the Gulf Cartel's paramilitary enforcers.
The army raid uncovered a depot under the control of a notorious cartel lieutenant named Jaime “Hummer” Gonzalez Duran, who ran all aspects of the drug trafficking business — including enforcement to collect debts or eliminate rivals — between Reynosa and McAllen, according to interviews with FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration officials.
For at least two years before the weapons seizure, the DEA's Houston office had been after Gonzalez and his cell, in an investigation known as “Dos Equis.”
Gonzalez and 11 associates were indicted on federal trafficking charges in September. In October, a confidential FBI memo obtained by the San Antonio Express-News warned border police that Gonzalez and his group of Zetas hit men were amassing weapons for attacks against U.S. law enforcement.
The memo said one of Gonzalez's safe houses was discovered in Mission. It was stockpiled with assault weapons and tactical vests.
“Each cell leader has been personally instructed by Hummer to engage law enforcement with a full tactical response should law enforcement attempt to intervene in their operations,” the memo said.
Shortly after the FBI sent out its alert, DEA agents told their Mexican counterparts where they believed Gonzalez was hiding out, said Houston-based DEA Special Agent Violet Szeleczky.
Within 24 hours, Mexican authorities captured Gonzalez in the Reynosa gunbattle.