Posted on 07/07/2013 6:30:09 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A high-powered rifle lost in the ATFs Fast and Furious controversy was used to kill a Mexican police chief in the state of Jalisco earlier this year, according to internal Department of Justice records, suggesting that weapons from the failed gun-tracking operation have now made it into the hands of violent drug cartels deep inside Mexico.
Luis Lucio Rosales Astorga, the police chief in the city of Hostotipaquillo, was shot to death Jan. 29 when gunmen intercepted his patrol car and opened fire. Also killed was one of his bodyguards. His wife and a second bodyguard were wounded.
Local authorities said eight suspects in their 20s and 30s were arrested after police seized them nearby with a cache of weapons rifles, grenades, handguns, helmets, bulletproof vests, uniforms and special communications equipment. The area is a hot zone for rival drug gangs, with members of three cartels fighting over turf in the region.
A semi-automatic WASR rifle, the firearm that killed the chief, was traced back to the Lone Wolf Trading Company, a gun store in Glendale, Ariz. The notation on the Department of Justice trace records said the WASR was used in a HOMICIDE WILLFUL KILL PUB OFF GUN ATF code for Homicide, Willful Killing of a Public Official, Gun.
Hundreds of firearms were lost in the Fast and Furious operation. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allowed illegal purchasers to buy the firearms at the Lone Wolf store in the Phoenix suburb and other gun shops in hopes of tracing them to Mexican cartel leaders.
The WASR used in Jalisco was purchased on Feb. 22, 2010, about three months into the Fast and Furious operation, by 26-year-old Jacob A. Montelongo of Phoenix. He later pleaded guilty to conspiracy, making false statements and smuggling
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
there was no tracing or tracking, no exploration of the vector, simply waiting for incidents exactly like this one.
The firearms weren’t exactly lost. Knowing where they were was never part of the plan.
Barack Barry Hussein Soetoro Obama, simply the worst thing to ever happen to this country..
Amen!
Sort of like the thousands of tax refunds sent to the same Atlanta address.
Another bloated executive branch agency with not enough manpower and funding to do their jobs correctly, but plenty of both to go on politically motivated witch hunts.
Did Koch Bros. already by it or are some reporters just hedging their bets, hoping to keep a job by reporting the news?
In the real world that would make Holder and Soetero accessories to Murder.
Why did the LA Times not reference this firearm as an ASSAULT WEAPON OR ASSAULT RIFLE? They do with every other firearm.
“Barack Barry Hussein Soetoro Obama, simply the worst thing to ever happen to this country..”
And Mexico apparently.
... This is actually OLD news that surfaced quite a while ago so it is hardly very ground breaking .... what is surprising though is that the L.A. Times is actually reporting it!!! They must be suffering a sudden attack of something that is called “Journalism.” They better be careful .... people might actually read an issue or two if they keep this up!
This Obama, Holder, & Co. really don’t care WHO they punk, do they???
If we didn’t believe in evil spells before last November’s election, we should now.
It’s one horror story after another. Day after day.
Obama - It’s George Zimmerman’s fault.
He’s been a good “Goldstein” so far, why not focus theblame for this on George, too?
Correct No tracing/tracking of the firearms including guns sold from govt. inventory & no accounting for the money received for those weapons, for all you or I can find out it might even be in a U.S. Attorney’s retirement account in the Cayman islands.
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