Project Gunrunner

Last updated

Project Gunrunner is a project of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) intended to stem the flow of firearms into Mexico, in an attempt to deprive the Mexican drug cartels of weapons. [1]

Contents

The primary tactic of Project Gunrunner is interdiction of straw purchasers and unlicensed dealers to prevent legal guns from entering the black market; between 2005 and 2008, 650 such cases involving 1,400 offenders and 12,000 firearms were referred for prosecution. [2] However, other tactics ("gunwalking" and "controlled delivery") have led to controversy.

In early 2011, the project became controversial when it was revealed that Operation Wide Receiver (2006–2007) and Operation Fast and Furious (2009–2010) had allowed guns to "walk" into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. [3] [4]

History

The ATF began Project Gunrunner as a pilot project in Laredo, Texas, in 2005 and expanded it as a national initiative in 2006. Project Gunrunner is also part of the Department of Justice's broader Southwest Border Initiative, which seeks to reduce cross-border drug and firearms trafficking and the high level of violence associated with these activities on both sides of the border. [5] [6]

The ATF determined that the Mexican cartels had become the leading gun trafficking organizations operating in the southwest U.S. and is working in collaboration with other agencies and the Government of Mexico to expand the eTrace firearm tracing software system. [7] eTrace provides web based access to the ATF's Firearms Tracing System to allow law enforcement both domestically and internationally the ability to trace firearms encountered in connection with a criminal investigation to the first recorded purchaser [8] [9] [10] (who may have innocently sold the gun years ago). eTrace allows law enforcement to access their trace results directly (name and address of first purchaser) and offers the ability to generate statistical reports to analyze their trace data to estimate firearms trafficking trends or patterns.

The ATF announced a goal to deploy eTrace software to all thirty-one Mexican states. As part of eTrace expansion, the ATF continues to provide training to Mexican and Central American countries to ensure that the technology is utilized to a greater extent. [7] Colombia and Mexico were provided with their own in-country tracing centers with full access to the ATF firearm registration records. In Colombia, a joint ATF–CNP Center for Anti-Explosives Information and Firearms Tracing (CIARA) opened on 6 December 2006. [11]

In Mexico, The National Center for Information, Analysis and Planning in order to Fight Crime (CENAPI) was established in 2003. The ATF states these are models for planned future tracing centers throughout Central and South America and the Caribbean Basin. [12] In December, 2009, the ATF announced deployment of a Spanish version of eTrace to Mexico, Guatemala and Costa Rica.

A planned second phase will release the software to all Spanish-speaking countries with agreements with the ATF. In June 2011 Congress opened an investigation into Project Gunrunner against the ATF, as some ATF agents have come forward stating that top heads in the ATF and the Department of Justice instructed the agents to encourage gun stores in the U.S. to sell assault-style weapons to Mexican firearm traffickers.

Budget

In 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 [13] provided $40 million to state and local law enforcement agencies. This money was primarily slated for competitive grants to provide assistance and equipment to local law enforcement along the southern border; and, in high-intensity drug trafficking areas, to combat criminal narcotics activity stemming from the southern border. $10 million of the money was to be transferred to the BATF for Project Gunrunner to hire personnel and open facilities in 6 new locations. The use of "stimulus" money to fund Project Gunrunner is controversial, given the ATF Phoenix Field Division's reported initiative of allowing known criminals to purchase guns in an effort to gain intelligence on the cartels (Operation Fast and Furious).

In addition, the FY 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act provided the ATF with an additional 5 million for Project Gunrunner. [14]

Participants

Countries have access to American gun owner identities and information (first purchaser only) as a result of traces of recovered firearms contained in the database. [15] [16] In GAO Report 09-709, the ATF reports the National Tracing Center, "conducts the gun traces, and returns information on their findings to the submitting party". [10]

The ATF has commissioned approximately 100 special agents and 25 industry operations investigators to the initiative, [7] and is increasing its intelligence activities with other EPIC law enforcement partners stationed at the border, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Texas Department of Public Safety. The ATF also works closely with these agencies' task forces which operate along the Southwest border, sharing intelligence, and conducting joint investigations.

Operations

By early 2009, Project Gunrunner had resulted in approximately 650 cases by the ATF, in which more than 1,400 defendants were referred for prosecution in federal and state courts and more than 12,000 firearms were involved. [17]

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), during FY 2007 and 2008, the ATF conducted 12 eTrace training sessions for Mexican police (over 961 Mexican police officers) in several Mexican cities, including the same cities where corrupt police were disarmed and arrested: Mexico City, Tijuana, Nuevo Laredo, and Matamoros. [18] Despite the GAO report, the ATF claimed in October 2010 only about 20 people have been trained to use eTrace in Mexico. [19] This discrepancy has not been explained. With the assistance of the ATF's Mexico City office and the Narcotics Affairs Section of the U.S. Department of State, the ATF anticipated conducting numerous additional courses in these subject areas in 2009. [17] According to Mexican government officials, corruption pervades all levels of Mexican law enforcement—federal, state, and local. [20]

The ATF reported they analyzed firearms seizures in Mexico from FY 2005-07 and identified the following weapons most commonly used by drug traffickers. [21] However this conclusion is seriously flawed and not supported by ATF statistics, which only includes guns successfully traced and these are not necessarily connected to drug traffickers. The number of trace requests from Mexico has increased since FY 2006, but most seized guns in Mexico have not been traced as only guns originally from the United States are traced. [22]

Controversy

Project Gunrunner has a stated official objective to stop the sale and export of guns from the United States into Mexico in order to deny Mexican drug cartels the firearms considered "tools of the trade". [23] However, since 2006 under Operation Wide Receiver (2006-2007), Hernandez Case (2007), Medrano Case (2008) and Operation Fast and Furious (2009-2011), the Phoenix offices of the ATF and USAO did the opposite by permitting, encouraging and facilitating 'straw purchase' firearm sales to traffickers, and allowing the guns to 'walk' and be transported to Mexico. [24] [25] The gun-rights group Gun Owners of America accused the ATF of attempting to "boost statistics of seized firearms with American commercial provenance from Mexican crime scenes." [26]

In October 2011, documents were released that indicated Justice Department officials were sent memos in regard to Operation Fast and Furious in 2010. [27] According to ATF agents, Mexican officials were not notified, and ATF agents operating in Mexico were instructed not to alert Mexican authorities about the operation. [28] Under Fast and Furious, the ATF attache at the Mexico City Office (MCO) was not notified (unlike Wide Receiver and most other cases). [29]

Some ATF agents and supervisors strongly objected, and gun dealers (who were cooperating with the ATF) protested the sales, but were asked by the ATF to complete the transactions to expose the supply chain and gather intelligence. [30] [31] It has been established that this operation violated long-established ATF policies and practices and that it is not a recognized investigative technique. [32]

In 2011, KNXV-TV reported that weapons linked to the controversial ATF strategy were recovered in four police seizures of drugs and guns in the Phoenix area (two in Glendale, two in Phoenix). [33]

As of a 2011 report, total of 372 Fast and Furious firearms were recovered in the United States, and 195 were recovered in Mexico. [34]

During Fast and Furious, ATF Phoenix did interdict 105 guns. However, at least 1,856 guns were allowed to walk. Other U.S. agencies, federal, state and local, recovered nearly 270 at crime scenes in the U.S. and 195 Fast and Furious origin guns were recovered by Mexican police at Mexican crime scenes. [29]

In 2010, Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was murdered in a shootout in Arizona with drug cartel members. Cartel member Manuel Osorio-Arellanes pleaded guilty in 2012 to first-degree murder in the case and was sentenced in 2014 to 30 years in prison; according to Osorio-Arellanes, four other cartel members perpetrated the attack. Two rifles from the "Fast and Furious" operation were found at the scene of the crime, but there is no evidence proving that Terry was killed with either of those guns. [35]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drug Enforcement Administration</span> United States federal law enforcement agency

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act, sharing concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. However, the DEA has sole responsibility for coordinating and pursuing U.S. drug investigations both domestically and internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives</span> U.S. law enforcement agency

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention of federal offenses involving the unlawful use, manufacture, and possession of firearms and explosives; acts of arson and bombings; and illegal trafficking and tax evasion of alcohol and tobacco products. The ATF also regulates via licensing the sale, possession, and transportation of firearms, ammunition, and explosives in interstate commerce. Many of the ATF's activities are carried out in conjunction with task forces made up of state and local law enforcement officers, such as Project Safe Neighborhoods. The ATF operates a unique fire research laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, where full-scale mock-ups of criminal arson can be reconstructed. The ATF had 5,285 employees and an annual budget of almost $1.5 billion in 2021. The ATF has received criticism over its handling of the Ruby Ridge siege, the Waco siege and other incidents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun shows in the United States</span> Display and sales event for guns and related paraphernalia in the USA

In the United States, a gun show is an event where promoters generally rent large public venues and then rent tables for display areas for dealers of guns and related items, and charge admission for buyers. The majority of guns for sale at gun shows are modern sporting firearms. Approximately 5,000 gun shows occur annually in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firearm Owners Protection Act</span> 1986 United States federal gun control law

The Firearm Owners' Protection Act (FOPA) of 1986 is a United States federal law that revised many provisions of the Gun Control Act of 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force</span> Federal drug enforcement program in the United States

The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) is a federal drug enforcement program in the United States, overseen by the Attorney General and the Department of Justice. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the major drug trafficking operations and tackle related crimes, such as money laundering, tax and weapon violations, and violent crime, and prosecute those primarily responsible for the nation's drug supply.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexican drug war</span> War between Mexicos government and various drug trafficking syndicates

The Mexican drug war is an ongoing asymmetric armed conflict between the Mexican government and various drug trafficking syndicates. When the Mexican military intervened in 2006, the government's main objective was to reduce drug-related violence. The Mexican government has asserted that their primary focus is dismantling the cartels and preventing drug trafficking. The conflict has been described as the Mexican theater of the global war on drugs, as led by the United States federal government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexico–United States relations</span> Bilateral relations between the United States of America and the United Mexican States

Mexico and the United States have a complex history, with war in the 1840s and the subsequent American acquisition of more than 50% of former Mexican territory, including Texas, Arizona, California, and New Mexico. Pressure from Washington forced the French invaders out in the 1860s. The Mexican Revolution of the 1910s saw many refugees flee North, and limited American invasions. Other tensions resulted from seizure of American mining and oil interests. The two nations share a maritime and land border. Several treaties have been concluded between the two nations bilaterally, such as the Gadsden Purchase, and multilaterally, such as the 2019 United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, replacing the 1994 NAFTA. Both are members of various international organizations, including the Organization of American States and the United Nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan García Abrego</span> Mexican convicted drug lord

Juan García Abrego is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former leader of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. He started in the cartel under the tutelage of his uncle Juan Nepomuceno Guerra.

Celerino Castillo is a former agent for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mérida Initiative</span> Security cooperation agreement

The Mérida Initiative, also called Plan Mexico, is a security cooperation agreement among the United States, the government of Mexico, and the countries of Central America. With the declared aim of combating the threats of drug trafficking, transnational organized crime and money laundering, assistance between the countries includes training, equipment and intelligence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinaloa Cartel</span> Transnational drug-trafficking organization

The Sinaloa Cartel, also known as the Guzmán-Loera Organization, the Federation, the Blood Alliance, or the Pacific Cartel, is a large, transnational organized crime syndicate based in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico that specializes in illegal drug trafficking and money laundering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Violent Crime Impact Teams</span>

Violent Crime Impact Teams (VCIT) in the United States work proactively to identify, disrupt, arrest and prosecute the most violent criminals through innovative technology, analytical investigative resources and an integrated federal, state and local law enforcement strategy along with the leading federal law enforcement agency for the VCIT, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Familia Michoacana</span> Mexican cartel and organized crime syndicate

La Familia Michoacana, La Familia, is a Mexican drug cartel and organized crime syndicate based in the Mexican state of Michoacán. They are known to produce large amounts of methamphetamine in clandestine laboratories in Michoacan. Formerly allied to the Gulf Cartel—as part of Los Zetas—it split off in 2006. The cartel was founded by Carlos Rosales Mendoza, a close associate of Osiel Cárdenas. The second leader, Nazario Moreno González, known as El Más Loco, preached his organization's divine right to eliminate enemies. He carried a "bible" of his own sayings and insisted that his army of traffickers and hitmen avoid using the narcotics they produce and sell. Nazario Moreno's partners were José de Jesús Méndez Vargas, Servando Gómez Martínez and Enrique Plancarte Solís, each of whom has a bounty of $2 million for his capture, and were contesting the control of the organization.

eTrace Firearm trace request submission system

eTrace is an Internet-based firearm trace request submission system, developed by the United States' federal government, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, that provides for the electronic exchange of traced firearm data in a secure internet-based environment. Participating law enforcement agencies with access to the internet can acquire 24/7 real-time capabilities to electronically submit firearm trace requests, monitor the progress of traces, retrieve completed trace results, and to query firearm trace related data in Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) firearms registration database at the National Tracing Center. Firearms tracing is the systematic tracking of the movement of a firearm from its creation by the manufacturer or its introduction into U.S. commerce by the importer, through the distribution chain to the first retail purchase. Release 4.0, a bilingual version of eTrace was deployed in December, 2009 for the benefit of Spanish-speaking countries.

The National Tracing Center (NTC) of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is the sole firearms tracing facility in the United States. It provides information to provide foreign (international), federal, state and local law enforcement agencies with suspects for firearm crime investigations, detect suspected firearms traffickers, and track the intrastate, interstate and international movement of firearms. Congressional restrictions are in place to prevent the release of firearms trace information to anyone other than law enforcement agencies, however, this restriction does not apply to participating foreign countries or agencies. The only restriction is by memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the agency receiving ATF's eTrace software.

The State of Texas is considered to have some of the most relaxed gun laws in the United States. Public concerns over gun control in Texas have increased in recent years as Mexican drug cartels continue to commit violent crimes closer to Texas' stretch of the Mexico–United States border. They have also increased due to the number of incidents, including misuse of firearms stolen from other sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ATF gunwalking scandal</span> US operation to capture weapons smugglers

Gunwalking, or "letting guns walk", was a tactic used by the Arizona U.S. Attorney's Office and the Arizona Field Office of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which ran a series of sting operations between 2006 and 2011 in the Tucson and Phoenix area where the ATF "purposely allowed licensed firearms dealers to sell weapons to illegal straw buyers, hoping to track the guns to Mexican drug cartel leaders and arrest them" - however as of October 2011, none of the targeted high-level cartel figures had been arrested. These operations were done under the umbrella of Project Gunrunner, a project intended to stem the flow of firearms into Mexico by interdicting straw purchasers and gun traffickers within the United States. The Jacob Chambers Case began in October 2009 and eventually became known in February 2010 as Operation Fast and Furious after agents discovered Chambers and the other suspects under investigation belonged to a car club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaime Zapata</span> US agent

Jaime Jorge Zapata was an Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent who was ambushed and murdered by the Mexican criminal group Los Zetas in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. He was one of two agents who were ambushed in a part of the country that was increasingly under the influence of drug violence. Zapata's death was the second highest-profile killing of a U.S. agent in Mexico—the first one was Enrique Camarena, an undercover DEA agent who was tortured and murdered by the former Guadalajara Cartel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth E. Melson</span>

Kenneth E. Melson is the former acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in the United States. He was appointed to this post by Attorney General Eric Holder in 2009. He resigned as head of the ATF in the aftermath of the ATF gunwalking scandal and was replaced by B. Todd Jones, a former Marine who has twice served as the U.S. attorney in Minnesota.

Mexicans have a right to own firearms, but legal purchase from the single Mexican gun shop in Mexico City, controlled by the Army, is extremely difficult. In other cases the guns are obtained through Guatemalan borders, or stolen from the police or military, or bought from corrupt officials. Consequently, black market firearms are widely available. Many firearms are acquired in the U.S. by women with no criminal history, who transfer their purchases to smugglers through relatives, boyfriends, and acquaintances who then smuggle them to Mexico a few at a time. The most common smuggled firearms include AR-15 and AK-47 type rifles, and FN 5.7 caliber semi-automatic pistols. Many firearms are purchased in the United States in a semi-automatic configuration before being converted to fire as select fire machine guns. In 2009, a combined total of more than 4,400 firearms of the AK-47 and AR-15 type, and 30% of AK-47 type semi-automatic rifles seized in Mexico have been modified as select fire weapons.

References

  1. ↑ "ATF Fact Sheet - Project Gunrunner - ATF". Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "FBI — Fact Sheet: Department of Justice Efforts to Combat Mexican Drug Cartels". FBI. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "AP Exclusive: Second Bush-Era Gun-Smuggling Probe". The Associated Press. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  4. ↑ Savage, Charlie (27 July 2011). "Agent Who Supervised Gun-Trafficking Operation Testifies on His Failings". New York Times. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  5. ↑ "Review of ATF's Project Gunrunner" (PDF). U.S. Department of Justice - Office of the Inspector General. September 2009. p. 3. Retrieved 1 March 2017. Preliminary review by the Department of Justice implementation of Project Gunrunner on the illicit trafficking of guns from the United States to Mexico
  6. ↑ "WORKING DRAFT REPORT: Review of ATF's Project Gunrunner" (PDF). September 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 Hoover, William (7 February 2008). "Statement by William Hoover, Assistant Director for Field Operations, Bureau of ATF: STATEMENT AT THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE". Washington, D.C.: UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS. Archived from the original on 13 August 2008. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  8. ↑ eTrace: Internet-based Firearms Tracing and Analysis
  9. ↑ ATF Fact Sheet - eTrace: Internet-Based Firearms Tracing and Analysis Archived 10 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  10. 1 2 GAO-09-709 Firearms Trafficking: U.S. Efforts to Combat Arms Trafficking to Mexico Face Planning and Coordination Challenges
  11. ↑ Bureau of International Narcotics Matters End Use Monitoring (EUM) Report, CY 2006, U.S. State Department.
  12. ↑ CBS
  13. ↑ "H.R.1: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - U.S. Congress - OpenCongress". OpenCongress. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  14. ↑ "Statement of William Newell, Special Agent in Charge, Phoenix Field Division, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Before the United States House of Representatives 24 March 2009" (PDF). p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2017. In addition, the FY 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act provides ATF with an additional $5 million for Project Gunrunner
  15. ↑ "Privacy Impact Assessment for the eTrace" (PDF). BATFE. BATFE. 30 May 2006. p. 19. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 November 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2010.
  16. ↑ "An Open Letter to B.A.T.F.E. Head Kenneth Melson (Acting Director)". Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. 22 October 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  17. 1 2 "FBI Fact Sheet: Department of Justice efforts to combat Mexican Drug Cartels". Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 2 April 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
  18. ↑ GAO Report 09-709 (PDF)
  19. ↑ CORCORAN, KATHERINE (6 October 2010). "ATF: New accord with Mexico will boost gun traces". Yahoo News. Associated Press. Retrieved 17 December 2010. About 20 people have been trained to use eTrace in Mexico.
  20. ↑ GAO Report 09-709, June 2009
  21. ↑ ATF Fact Sheet - Project Gunrunner Archived 15 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ↑ U.S. Office of the Inspector General (OIG) - Evaluation and Inspections Division (November 2010). "Review by the Office Inspector General (OIG) of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' (ATF) implementation of Project Gunrunner" (PDF). U.S.A.: U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved 21 November 2010. OIG Review of ATF's Project Gunrunner
  23. ↑ "Project Gunrunner". BATFE. BATFE. 17 February 2011. Archived from the original on 20 February 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  24. ↑ Fatally Flawed: Five Years of Gunwalking in Arizona Archived 16 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine (Report of the Minority Staff, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member; Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, January 2012).
  25. ↑ Part I of III: Fast and Furious: The Anatomy of a Failed Operation, JOINT STAFF REPORT Prepared for Rep. Darrell E. Issa, Chairman United States House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform & Senator Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 112th Congress, 31 July 2012.
  26. ↑ Holub, Hugh (24 February 2011). "More calls for an investigation into ATF's Project Gunrunner scandal". The Tucson Citizen. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  27. ↑ "Emails show top Justice Department officials knew of ATF gun program". Los Angeles Times. 19 March 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  28. ↑ Attkisson, Sharyl (24 February 2011). "Mexico responds to CBS News investigation". CBS News. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  29. 1 2 A Review of ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious and Related Matters, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, September 2012.
  30. ↑ Sharyl, Attkisson (23 February 2011). "Gunrunning scandal uncovered at the ATF". CBS News. CBS News. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  31. ↑ Hugh Holub (23 February 2011). "Inside ATF…an ugly picture …how many dead bodies are out there as a result of Project Gunrunner?". The Tucson Citizen. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  32. ↑ Ahlers, Mike M. (26 July 2011). "ATF officials admit mistakes in Operation Fast and Furious gun program". CNN. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
  33. ↑ Gliha, Lori (1 July 2011). "Weapons linked to controversial ATF strategy found in Valley crimes". KNXV-TV, ABC15.com. KNXV-TV, ABC15.com. Archived from the original on 3 July 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  34. ↑ "Fast and Furious Investigation" (PDF). BATFE. U.S. Department of Justice. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  35. ↑ Mary Kay Mallonee (13 April 2017). "Man arrested in 2010 killing of Border Patrol agent, DHS says". CNN.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.