ATF: Mexican cartels paid to inform for FBI, DEA

ATF: Mexican cartels paid to inform for FBI, DEA
By Richard A. Serrano
Tribune Newspapers
Posted: Saturday, Jul. 09, 2011


WASHINGTON The embattled head of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has told congressional investigators that some Mexican drug cartel figures targeted by his agency in a gun-trafficking investigation were paid informants for the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration.

Kenneth Melson, the ATF's acting director, has been under pressure to resign after the agency allowed guns to be purchased in the U.S. in hopes they would be traced to cartel leaders....

....In two days of meetings with congressional investigators over the weekend, Melson said the FBI and DEA kept the ATF "in the dark" about their relationships with the cartel informants. If ATF agents had known of the relationships, the agency might have ended the investigation earlier, he said.

As a result of Melson's statements, "our investigation has clearly expanded," a source close to the congressional investigation said this week, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the inquiry is ongoing. "We know now it was not something limited to just a small group of ATF agents in Arizona."....

"The evidence we have gathered raises the disturbing possibility that the Justice Department not only allowed criminals to smuggle weapons but that taxpayer dollars from other agencies may have financed those engaging in such activities," Issa and Grassley said in their letter to Holder.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/07/09/2440172/atf-mexican-cartels-paid-to-inform.html#ixzz1RpFT1gIr

Jul 11, 5:33 PM EDT

ATF to require gun buyer information on border

By PETE YOST
Associated Press
AP Photo
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren


WASHINGTON (AP) -- In an effort to stem the illicit flow of weapons into Mexico, the Justice Department announced Monday that all gun shops in four Southwest border states will be required to alert the federal government to frequent buyers of high-powered rifles.

The new policy comes amid criticism of a flawed federal probe aimed at dismantling large-scale arms trafficking networks along the Arizona border with Mexico.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GUNS_SOUTHWEST_BORDER?SITE=WHIZ&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT