Posted on 02/05/2004 9:18:15 AM PST by knak
Anti-tank weapon is used by U.S. military in Iraq
By Marisa Taylor and Anna Cearley
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
February 5, 2004
Mexican agents are trying to figure out how a rocket launcher used by the U.S. military wound up in a Tijuana house just a block from the U.S.-Mexico border fence.
Agents used a search warrant to enter the house Tuesday and found the weapon along with about a ton of marijuana. They already had discovered a truck packed with 2 tons of marijuana in front of the house.
Officials with the Federal Agency of Investigation, Mexico's equivalent of the FBI, began searching Colonia Rancho Escondido, a neighborhood in the eastern section of the city, after receiving an anonymous tip that a drug shipment would be arriving in Tijuana.
The weapon they found was identified as an AT-4 anti-tank rocket launcher, which is being used in Iraq by the U.S. military. The lightweight, shoulder-fired weapon is considered disposable because it can be fired only once. It is capable of destroying a lightly armored vehicle.
Mexican officials notified several U.S. law enforcement agencies of the discovery, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has offered Mexico its assistance.
Lauren Mack, a spokeswoman for Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Diego, said her agency was told the weapon could no longer be used because it looked like it had been fired. Mexican officials said they were still examining the weapon to be sure.
"Our understanding is that it's not a threat," Mack said. "Of course, we want to find out how it got there. This is a military weapon and inactive as it is we want to follow up on any leads."
Experts said they were concerned that the weapon, which appeared to be several years old, could have been stolen from U.S. or foreign military stockpiles and smuggled into Mexico as part of an arms-for-drugs deal.
"Maybe someone was badly snookered or they already used it," said Tim Lomperis, a former U.S. Army intelligence officer. "I would also be worried about the possibility that this could be an arms dealer showing off what these things can do."
There have been reports of small rockets being sold by illegal arms merchants. A U.S. official said the Tijuana-based Arellano Félix drug cartel is known to occasionally use them.
In 2002, authorities discovered a cache of weapons, including a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher, on a ranch east of Mexicali where the body of a Baja California state police officer was found buried.
"We see AK-47s in the hands of drug traffickers all the time, but a (rocket) launcher is a very rare find," said Michael Vigil, the special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in San Diego.
Mexico prohibits civilians from carrying guns and most other weapons except in special circumstances, and arms violations of any sort can carry penalties more severe than in the United States.
One Mexican federal official, who asked to remain anonymous, said Mexico is awash in weapons smuggled in from the United States.
"It's a big problem that doesn't get enough attention," the official said.
AT-4s are not designed to shoot down aircraft. However, experts said such a discovery raises obvious security concerns for both Mexico and the United States.
"A light anti-tank weapon is a very serious weapon," Lomperis said. "It's like what the Iraqi insurgency is using to knock out Humvees. You don't find this type of weapon at a gun store."
The terrorists then stream across the border to position themselves wherever their plans require. The beauty and ease of this plan is aided by the fact that the Muslims pick up some Spanish on the way and, in Mexico, get official natricula cards so they can blend in with all the other illegal alien criminals out to harm America. Why Bush kisses Fox's rear on this issue is beyond me. All I know is that Bush's failure to defend our southern border will probably turn into a disaster.
And your proof that Saudi, Iraqi, or Muslim terrorists had anything to do with this is ... ? And your proof that this is actually an operating weapon and not an empty launcher picked up at an army-navy store for show is ... ?
All I know is that Bush's failure to defend our southern border will probably turn into a disaster.
Gotta get that Bush bash in there somehow, don't you? Oh yeah, Bush is responsible for drug criminals buying heavy weapons on the black market, global warming, and the heartbreak of psoriasis.
Try DU.
Rut row.....
Saying something for months does not make it fact.
Evidence makes it fact.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.
Kindly submit same.
It probably is a fired discard.
Gotta get that Bush bash in there somehow, don't you
As I recall it was Bush who proposed the amnesty for illegal aliens. Rewarding criminal border crossing is hardly defending borders
Or it found its way off the test range into a San Diego pawn shop via some E-3 stationed at Pendleton who needed beer money.
As I recall it was Bush who proposed the amnesty for illegal aliens. Rewarding criminal border crossing is hardly defending borders
The "amnesty" issue and immigration are not relevant to the story.
Sounds like all this is, is the TUBE the missle is fired from.
You can buy 'em a some army /navy surplus stores/gun shows for a few bucks
Probably used it for the intimadation factor
That sounds like something that a bunch of dopeheads would do!
"One Mexican federal official said Mexico is awash in weapons smuggled in from the United States."
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