Gun-smuggling cartel figures possibly were paid FBI informants

Gun-smuggling cartel figures possibly were paid FBI informants
Probe reveals that the U.S. agency running the 'Fast and Furious' anti-gun-trafficking operation didn't know about the alleged FBI informants. Congressional investigators are looking into the matter.

By Richard A. Serrano, Washington Bureau

July 17, 2011


Suspected members of the Zeta drug cartel are arrested in Guadalajara. Weapons also were seized. (STRINGER/MEXICO, REUTERS / June 17, 2011)

Reporting from Washington—
Congressional investigators probing the controversial "Fast and Furious" anti-gun-trafficking operation on the border with Mexico believe at least six Mexican drug cartel figures involved in gun smuggling also were paid FBI informants, officials said Saturday.

***snip***

In a letter to FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, the investigators asked why U.S. taxpayers' money apparently was paid to Mexican cartel members who have terrorized the border region for years in their efforts to smuggle drugs into this country, and to ship U.S. firearms into Mexico.emphasis added

***snip***

The FBI and DEA did not tell the ATF about the alleged informants. The ATF and congressional investigators learned later that those agencies apparently were paying cartel members whom the ATF wanted to arrest.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cartel-guns-20110717,0,6972222.story

Drug Cartels In Mexico And Colombia Allegedly Supplied With Weapons From Honduran Military
April 27, 2011 4:15 pm



Gun stores on the U.S.-Mexico border have recently been criticized for their firearms ending up in the hands of drug cartels. However, a 2008 diplomatic cable obtained by Wikileaks draws light on another source for the cartels by claiming that the Honduran military at that time “lost” several U.S.-supplied military weapons.

“The has become aware that light antitank weapons (LAWs) and grenades supplied to Honduras under the Foreign Military Sales program were recovered in Mexico and Colombia,” the cable said. “According to the report, three light anti-tank weapons (LAWs) were recovered in Mexico City in January 2008, and one was recovered in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico in April 2008. ”

These revelations, paired with other recent allegations of Honduran government officials involvment in the drug trade, created a debate over who is the main weapon supplier of Mexico’s drug cartels and lead U.S. military personnel to imply that some of Central America’s armed forces are responsible for many of the weapons in Mexico.

“Over 50 percent of the military-type weapons that are flowing throughout the region have a large source between Central American stockpiles, if you will, left over from wars and conflicts in the past,” said General Douglas Fraser, the head of the U.S. Southern Command.
http://latindispatch.com/2011/04/27/drug-cartels-in-mexico-and-colombia-allegedly-supplied-with-weapons-from-honduran-military/

U.S. figures misleading on source of Mexican weapons
Posted: Monday, March 14, 2011 8:15 am

In past months the Mexican government and many U.S. politicians including the president, Secretary of State and other high-ranking officials have attempted to lay blame for Mexico's drug violence at the feet of the American small gun store owner along the southern border.

A misinterpreted figure of 90 percent of traced firearms by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found at crime scenes in Mexico were supposed to have originated in the U.S.

This figure ignored tens of thousands smuggled in through Mexico's porous southern border, extensive coastline and those stolen from the government by deserting Mexican soldiers. Countries like Iran, China, North Korea and other unprincipled nations have no qualms about who they sell machineguns, land mines and rocket-propelled grenades to.
http://www.heraldandnews.com/viewpoints/article_9121bf20-4e4c-11e0-a621-001cc4c002e0.html#vmix_media_id=71119631