ATF Death Watch 89: 40 Fast and Furious Firearms “Found” in Dallas(gunwalker)

The Truth About Guns ^ | 29 September, 2011 | Robert Farago

[marktwain]

There are so many curious aspects to the Gunwalker scandal. There are well over a thousand smoking guns still out there, somewhere. All of which prove that the ATF “lost control” of Operation Fast and Furious. But there is no single piece of evidence that answers the fundamental question about Uncle Sam’s gun running black bag job: why? What was the point of allowing bad guys to buy guns? The ATF claims they were going after the “big fish” controlling the U.S. gun stores-to-Mexican drug cartel weapons trade. That hardly seems likely—as there were no big fish to be gotten. It now looks like the ATF set about creating one. Or more. Equally damning, the ATF knew that Bureau-enabled guns were going awry a lot earlier than previously admitted . . .

A cache of assault weapons lost in the ATF’s gun-trafficking surveillance operation in Phoenix turned up in El Paso, where it was being stored for shipment to Mexico, according to new internal agency emails and federal court records.

Forty firearms along with ammunition magazines and ballistic vests were discovered in Texas in January 2010 during the early stages of the program, meaning the firearms vanished soon after the program began.

So what did the ATF do? Kept going of course. The latimes.com drills down on the logistics of the El Paso guns:

According to an ATF document, Sean Christopher Steward bought the 40 AK-47-type assault rifles on Dec. 24, 2009, from the Lone Wolf Trading Co. gun store in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix. The cache was part of 290 firearms ultimately acquired by Steward, a convicted drug felon, during the Fast and Furious operation . . .

According to ATF emails and a federal court affidavit, El Paso police officers tracking alleged drug smuggling from Mexico followed a dark blue Volkswagen Jetta as it backed into a garage at a residence on Jan. 13, 2010. The driver was identified as Alberto Sandoval. Police later searched the vehicle and found the weapons and other devices.

According to an email from ATF Special Agent Oscar B. Flores in El Paso, Sandoval told authorities that he was paid $1,000 “to store the firearms at his residence until they could be transported to the Republic of Mexico” by an unknown third party.

More emails discussing Sandoval’s arrest and the recovery of the weapons were sent to Washington headquarters and Kenneth Melson, then the ATF acting director, and William J. Hoover, the assistant director.

Sandoval was indicted and pleaded guilty to weapons charges in May 2010 in U.S. District Court in El Paso. He was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison.

The latimes.com mentions the fact that Steward was a convicted felon in passing. But that little factoid is yet more evidence that the FBI was in on Operation Fast & Furious, and not in a good way. The Agency had to game their instant background check system to let Steward’s purchases go through.

Common sense suggests that Steward knew the FBI and ATF knew that he was buying guns illegally. A convicted felon doesn’t expect to walk into a gun store and walk out with 290 firearms. If so, why the jail time? If not, why didn’t the ATF yank his chain earlier? Clearly, his tail was loose, at best.

The F&F-enabled guns went from Lone Wolf to Steward to Sandoval to a Dallas garage, in anticipation of an “unknown third party” Who somehow isn’t identified in the course of the investigation triggered when the local fuzz nab Bad Guy number two. And . . . that’s it.

As my mother likes to say, there’s no there there. No clearly delineated strategy behind Operation Fast and Furious, either in its idealized state (a “sting operation”) or in its actuation (literally incredible investigative tactics).

I still maintain that there’s an intersection between the ATF’s stingless sting and America’s federal policy towards Mexico and Mexican drug thugs. To try and view the ATF’s gun running in isolation, without examining the activities of all the other agencies implicated (DEA, IRS, CPB, ICE, FBI and the CIA), is to contemplate a diseased tree without considering the health of the forest.

Meanwhile, Mexico is on fire.

[IMR 4350]

If Zippo is forced out of the presidency before the election, Hillary will be brought in as VP, possibly prez if Biden is also forced out.

They will play the race card to the fullest against the Tea Party and repubs for forcing the first black prez out. There will be riots in every city, and Hillary will be egging it on. Hillary will be a hero of the blacks.

It will be just like in 1992. You had the LA riots and the blacks were promising more riots in every city if Clinton wasn't elected. A lot of people in the cities voted for Clinton simply because they were afraid of riots burning down their city.

[GOPJ]

I don’t think this is an under the radar gun control operation... these folks had bigger fish to fry.

[GOPJ]

It's been reported they also allowed grenades to “walk” across the border. That blows any gun control theory out of the water. Grenades are already controlled 100%.

Good catch.

[GOPJ]

Go back and do a review of the attempted car bomb in NYC in 2009.

The dems and their butt boys in the MSM began the spin and talking points that the Tea Party was violent and a bunch of Tim McVeigh wannabes, low and behold there was a car bombing attempt in NYC and it was a fertilizer bomb just like the OKC bombing. The butt boy media and the left had a field day with that until the muzzie was caught, then we had silence.

I think you've got something there...

[GOPJ]

Go back and do a review of the attempted car bomb in NYC in 2009.

Remember when ACORN was found passing out 'don't tread on me' flags at an early Tea Party... And CNN had been primed with that story? ( not the 'ACORN' part ) And Janet's talk about 'domestic terrorists - and the public service announcement showing white middle class men and women as 'terrorists' - - "if you see something, say something'. It's starting to look like a concerted effort. Really impressive in reach and complexity.

[Linda Frances]

No problem. Sometimes when I look back at my post, I wonder why I could not write things clearer.

[IMR 4350]

It's not just that one terrorist attack that the dems have had their talking points in place before the attack, attempted attack, or threat of an attack. It's every single one since the 1st WTC attack in 1993. Most important the dems did the same thing with the OKC bombing.

You want to know when a terrorist attack is coming down the pike, all you have to do is listen to the dems talking points and orchestrated news stories.

[GOPJ]

Fast and Furious appears to be an extension of the ‘Vast Right Wing Conspiracy’ lie. Main talking point about the so called violent right have come from the Southern Poverty Law Center in the past. I assume they're still in the loop. It'd be nice to know what they've been saying about the right and guns since F&F.

The press isn't giving us a lot of 'dots' to connect. Another tip-off this is a liberal elite controlled project. Not much is being fed to the press for citizens to 'figure out'. Nut and bolts like: "how close is the Lone Wolf Gun shop to the Mexican border ..or "was 'Lone Wolf' in a predominately conservative area?". are missing.

You're right about dems using the OKC bombing... they did NOT see McVeigh as a lone wolf - he was painted as being every conservative in the country.

Whenever there's a shooting - the the MSM AND Homeland Security jump to the conclusion it's a 'right winger' and yet it never is...

Liberal killer types like Ayers are welcomed into elite liberal circles. The MSM doesn't portrayed them as dangerous or organized. My fear is one of these times, a 'terrorist' won't be caught and conservatives will be blamed. Every last one of us.

IMHO Gunwalker was a way to prime the pump. Armed and apparent dangerous right wingers were needed to keep liberal elite lies going about us. At some point the hysteria about us was like the hysteria about global warming. People started saying 'put up or shut up. Sea water didn't rise. Right wingers weren't committing terrorist acts.

This was political - there's nothing to show this was about Mexicans or Mexican drug cartels - they;re 'cover'. It's why guns didn't have tracking devices on them. It was never about Mexico.

Then again - if could just be an expensive dangerous way to get a small gun control bill passed - but I doubt that. Dems learned a few years ago that gun control as an issue doesn't work. And they've dropped it. Have you noticed newspaper don't even discuss the issue? It pulls votes away from dems - so it's become invisible. I doubt Holder, Obama, or Clinton would come up with a political sting that would draw attention to an issue that pulls vote AWAY from dems. Gun Control does NOT work for dems.

[IMR 4350]

SPLC is definitely still in the loop.

It's definitely not about gun control. They would rather people believe that than know the truth.

Even 2000 more weapons in Mexico would be like a fart in a hurricane. It's such a small number compared to what the drug lords have, you wouldn't even notice an uptick in the violence.

Let's not forget, Clinton armed up the Kosovo Muslims in the 90’s.

I wouldn't put it past Hillary to arm up the Muslims for their “Arab Spring” and these 2000 weapons going to the drug dealers are POSSIBLY just payment to the drug dealers for their help in getting the weapons to the Muslims.

If the Muslims just “HAPPEN” to use some of those weapons for attacks here in the states, well just write it off to “THE NEED FOR MORE GUN CONTROL” by executive order.