'Fast and Furious' probe: Chief suspect released more than once
'Fast and Furious' probe: Chief suspect released more than once
By Richard A. Serrano
March 22, 2012, 12:12 p.m.
Reporting from Washington— Manuel Celis-Acosta, the chief suspect in the ATF’s "Fast and Furious" investigation who was caught but released at the U.S.-Mexico border in May 2010, was also stopped and released two months earlier while in possession of a Colt .38-caliber pistol purchased illegally under the gun-tracking operation.
The revelation that officials twice declined to arrest their prime suspect shows that agents were keenly aware of Celis-Acosta’s activities yet repeatedly turned down opportunities to charge him with felony offenses and bring a quick end to the Fast and Furious probe. Instead, the investigation dragged on for months more, with the loss of about 1,700 U.S. firearms on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.
The new disclosure was highlighted in a letter Thursday to Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., as the two top congressional investigators on Fast and Furious demanded answers as to why Celis-Acosta was twice permitted to dodge arrest. It was sent by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Fast and Furious was launched Oct. 31, 2009, and ran until a month after a U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed in December 2010. Two Fast and Furious assault weapons were recovered after his slaying near the border.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-fast-furious-celis-acosta-20120322%2c0%2c7732026.story
Just a botched sting, though, I'm sure. 
And yeah, I know, that "right wing" LA times is at it again... 
= new reply since forum marked as read
especially when the government is involved. The usual explanation is simply bureaucratic stupidity.
The gross incompetence in f&f however is mind boggling.
Did the BATFE actually allow 2000 weapons (give or take) to be illegally sold,forget to track them,forget to tell their office where they knew the weapons were going, THEN misplace who actually authorized this Charlie Foxtrot?
And nobody thought to tell the AG?
But they sure remembered it for Demand Letter 3.
Please explain, I don't want to wear the hat again
P.S. Don't tell me Bush did it; he also created fecal material so he could invade Iraq. Should we do that again too?
Any operation can catch a big fish once, but to do it twice requires a top-notch law enforcement program... 
If they threw them back, were they really big fish, or has Holder's DOJ resorted to "catch and release" law enforcement?
