Posted on 02/02/2013 5:43:00 AM PST by Uncle Chip
A store calling itself Fearless Distributing opened early last year on an out-of-the-way street in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood, offering designer clothes, athletic shoes, jewelry and drug paraphernalia.
Those working behind the counter, however, weren't interested in selling anything.
They were undercover agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives running a storefront sting aimed at busting criminal operations in the city by purchasing drugs and guns from felons.
But the effort to date has not snared any major dealers or taken down a gang. Instead, it resulted in a string of mistakes and failures, including an ATF military-style machine gun landing on the streets of Milwaukee and the agency having $35,000 in merchandise stolen from its store, a Journal Sentinel investigation has found.
When the 10-month operation was shut down after the burglary, agents and Milwaukee police officers who participated in the sting cleared out the store but left behind a sensitive document that listed names, vehicles and phone numbers of undercover agents.
And the agency remains locked in a battle with the building's owner, who says he is owed about $15,000 because of utility bills, holes in the walls, broken doors and damage from an overflowing toilet.
The sting resulted in charges being filed against about 30 people, most for low-level drug sales and gun possession counts. But agents had the wrong person in at least three cases. In one, they charged a man who was in prison - as a result of an earlier ATF case - at the time agents said he was selling drugs to them.
Other cases reveal that the agency's operation was paying such high prices that some defendants bought guns from stores such as Gander Mountain and sold them to the agents for a quick profit.
(Excerpt) Read more at jsonline.com ...
A truly successful "gun by back" program!
Operation Halfassed & Curious
But, hey...if it took one gun off the street, it must have been a huge success...right?
[spit]
What do you bet they didn’t even have an alarm system. These idiots couldn’t run a lemonade stand.
Look at the bright side Wisconsin. At least they weren't arming local drug dealers. In Arizona the ATF facilitated the acquisition of over 2000 AKs by the Sinaloa Cartel. The Cartel has reciprocated by sending some of them back. As near as I can tell 103 have been recovered by state and local law enforcement and one by the border patrol here.
And they left behind a sensitive document containing the names and addresses of some of their agents. There’s a good chance that somebody on the street bought that document from the thief for a hefty sum, with nefarious purposes in mind. Schadenfreude at its very best. Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch.
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