Posted on 09/24/2010 6:45:54 PM PDT by jakerobins
U.S. law enforcement officials have devised an aggressive and potentially controversial new strategy to crack down on the illegal gun trade to Mexico by targeting cartel networks inside this country and "corrupt" U.S. firearms dealers, according to internal Justice Department documents obtained by NBC News.
The documents also state that the drug traffickers appear to have expanded efforts to acquire firepower in the U.S. by tapping well-developed supply networks beyond the Southwest border region in order to acquire high-powered assault rifles as well as components for improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
The new strategy was prepared in recent weeks by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)’s Office of Field Operations, in the wake of stinging criticism of current ATF efforts to stem the flow of weapons to the cartels by the Justice Department’s inspector general
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Now it’s BATFE.
Personally I give them all the respect they’ve earned and deserved by calling them the ol’ F-Troop.
"Just as worrisome, it cites evidence that the cartels are tapping into the U.S. market to buy components for improvised explosive devices or IEDs, the same type of sophisticated bombs that have been used against U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. A senior law enforcement official said that some ATF agents “rang the bell” about the prospect of IEDs being used by the Mexican cartels over a year ago, when they first saw reports of the thefts of commercial explosives near the Southwest border."
“IR-beam detonators.”
Standard parts with any garage-door opener kit.
Maybe they’ll go after Sears, Lowe’s, and Home Depot.
and they can also be found in the remote-mount control for audio and home-theater gear.
Best Buy will be next, I’m sure...
Though the article opened with “by targeting cartel networks inside this country and “corrupt” U.S. firearms dealers”, curiously enough, not one “corrupt” gun dealer was mentioned in the article. The one gun dealer mentioned was found to have done nothing wrong.
“as well as components for improvised explosive devices (IEDs)”
I think they’re talking about things like cell phones you can buy at Walmart and pipes, wire and such at Ace Hardware, Home Depot, and Lowes. Hell, the Unibomber made all of his bombs from stuff he found in old junk piles and used nothing but hand tools.
I sell firearms for a living and the word on the street is BATFE has no interest in going after the end users of the ILLEGALLY purchased firearms; but simply to put EVERY gun shop in the border states out of business...PERIOD!
If the Feds would simply put a dead-or-alive bounty on illegals in this country, and let the armed citizens have at ‘em, I believe the problem would quickly resolve itself.
Yeah, I never saw this one coming.../massive sarc
As soon as we can get this government constitutionally reestablished the frigging ATF needs to be the first of many alphabet federal agencies to be disbanded and all the major players imprisoned.
“I thought the cartels were being supplied by sources in Brazil and Venezuela?”
The last customs report I read confirms what you said: the weapons are coming into Mexico via Venezuala. That would make sense because communists always work to destabilize neighboring countries.
When selling guns is illegal only criminals will sell guns.
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