‘Fast and Furious’ Linked to Immunity Deal Between U.S. and Sinaloa Cartel, Trafficking Defendant...

‘Fast and Furious’ Linked to Immunity Deal Between U.S. and Sinaloa Cartel, Trafficking Defendant Alleges in Court Papers

A Mexican drug trafficker awaiting trial in a Chicago federal court claims that the notorious Sinaloa cartel received weapons from "Operation Fast and Furious" under an alleged immunity agreement that the U.S. government made with cartel leaders, in exchange for information on rival gangs.

The defendant in a trafficking case before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Vicente Jesus Zambada-Niebla, also claims the immunity deal allowed the criminal cartel to "continue to smuggle tons of illicit drugs" into the United States.

He wants the U.S. government to provide documents relating to the botched gun running sting operation along the southwest border, arguing that it would benefit his defense.

Operation Fast and Furious, which began in September 2009, saw the Phoenix office of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives supervise the sale of guns to straw purchasers with the intent of tracing the guns to Mexican drug trafficking organizations and prosecuting their members. The ATF allowed about 2,000 guns to be sold in this manner.

The operation came under congressional scrutiny after it was linked to the December 2010 murder of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry at the hands of Mexican bandits.

An investigative report, spearheaded by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), found that most of the weapons provided to Mexican criminals under the operation were going to the Sinaloa cartel, arguably one of the world's largest drug trafficking organizations.

In a court pleading filed last July, Zambada-Niebla made the claims about an immunity deal.

"Mr. Zambada-Niebla believes that the documentation that he requests will confirm that the weapons received by Sinaloa Cartel members and its leaders in Operation 'Fast & Furious' were provided under the agreement entered into between the United States government and [a Mexican lawyer] on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel that is the subject of his defense...," it said.

"Mr. Zambada-Niebla believes that the documentation will also provide evidence showing that the United States government has a policy and pattern of providing benefits, including immunity, to cartel leaders, including the Sinaloa Cartel and their members, who are willing to provide information against rival drug cartels."

The defendant argued that he is protected from federal prosecution for trafficking drugs into the U.S. between 2004 and 2009 under an alleged immunity deal struck between the U.S. government and Sinaloa leaders.

According to court documents, Zambada-Niebla claims that the immunity deal provided the cartel's leadership with "carte blanche to continue to smuggle tons of illicit drugs into Chicago and the rest of the United States" in exchange for information on rival drug cartels.

U.S. prosecutors deny the existence of such an immunity deal between the U.S. government and the cartel.

Nevertheless, the U.S. government last September filed a motion to invoke the Classified Information Procedures Act, which is aimed at assuring that national security information stemming from criminal cases – such as details associated with CIA operations – are not leaked to the public during court proceedings.

In a court pleading filed in September, U.S. prosecutors claimed that Zambada-Niebla's allegations about Fast and Furious have no merit.

"Defendant requests all information in the possession of the U.S. government related to an ATF investigation referred to as 'Fast and Furious'..." it said. "Defendants request related to Fast and Furious... and other unrelated matters are gratuitous and wholly unrelated to any legitimate discovery issues in this case."

Zambada-Niebla, who was arrested in Mexico in March 2009 and extradited to the U.S. eleven months later, is accused of smuggling tons of cocaine and heroin into the U.S.

He claims he was working on behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, court documents show.

The defendant's pleading highlighted a July 2011 letter sent by Issa and Grassley to Attorney General Eric Holder, "suggesting that multiple United States agencies were employing as informants members of Mexican drug organizations."

"The evidence seems to indicate that the Justice Department not only allowed criminals to smuggle weapons, but that tax payers' dollars in the form of informant payments, may have financed those engaging in such activities," the pleading added.

"Very nicely done."

TY, but from your previous post:

"There goes the "we were letting guns randomly "walk" into Mexico to see where they went" lie. It was a quid pro quo with the Sinaloa international terrorist drug cartel."

"0bama, Holder and the whole lot of them are sponsors of terrorism, murder, drug trafficking, human slavery, money laundering and arms trafficking with intent to undermine a sovereign friendly nation."

[emphasis added... because I vociferously think this as well and have so posted! You and I are in the minority on this.]
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Setting aside your last point, the one that I emphasized, for the moment...

Some thoughts for the thread's reflection and critique:

Early into my understanding of Fast and Furious, I suspected that the motives of the crime reached far beyond the attempt to outlaw guns. That may be the "face" of the Obama adm's public rationalization---but ONLY because it is the "sexy," convenient, PC face.

The Obama adm ALWAYS tries to kill as many birds with one stone as possible---and the bird they publicize to kill is rarely the chief bird they are aiming for.

As has been posted on this thread (see post 26), this may backfire on us---BUT

Obama and the Hezbollah Terrorist

and

Outrage In Iraq

Hezbollah Terrorist Handed Over to Iraqis by U.S. May Face Only Minor Criminal Charge
~~~~~~~~~~~

Not to mention:

"Sinaloa drug cartel was sending elite assassins to train on weapons and explosives with Islamic radicals in Iran.44 The article reported that this travel was facilitated through Venezuela, courtesy of the direct airline flights established between the two countries, and that some of the operatives even used Venezuelan travel documents.45 This mutually beneficial arrangement allowed the assassins to receive training in guerilla tactics, while the extremists gained entry into Latin America with its relative ease of access to the Untied States.

The article went so far as to claim that some extremist group members were purchasing marriages to local Venezuelan and Mexican nationals in order to take on Latino surnames, increasing ease of entry into the United States.46 Taken together, these reports indicate extensive associations between Iran, Hezbollah and drug cartels, highlighting the potential for Hezbollah to utilize these groups’ existing support networks and infrastructure.

PDF Source
~~~~~~~~~~~

It is a known fact that Hezbollah is working with MANY cartels. Why is the media emphasis on Zetas alone?

The Sinaloa Cartel is a global criminal organization that moves up to two-thirds of drugs into the United States and operates in 52 countries.

The Obama regime is brilliant (Obama being merely the useful figurehead)---a fascist oligarchy criminally operating like queen bees...worker bees firmly in tow.

Untethered from ethics, morality, and law...

I am not optimistic.

Having said that, I forwarded my post to someone who is in regular contact with a successful federal prosecutor, now also a respected journalist. Although not in his area of expertise, I am hoping he might weigh in on the legalities of the last link I cited in my post:

Gunwalker: Justice Dept. Violated U.S. Laws Beyond Those Being Investigated

I wish Mark Levin and other legal experts who have the public's ear and respect would do the same.

I am also curious if Issa has this statute in mind.

We can't defer hope to the next election; however, GOP candidates have a bully pulpit few of our conservative leaders are willing to use. Will any candidate be willing to aim for the jugular? I doubt it. The outcry will have to come from a conservative grassroots groundswell.

IMO, the factual evidence for a big-picture conspiracy is beginning to come into view---of which F & F was only one important thread that unraveled by the death of Brian Terry, and now that unraveled thread threatens to unravel the whole fabric of the conspiracy. Is it any wonder that F & F is depicted as just a "botched" operation inspired by misguided and errant underlings who only deserve "reassignment" as penalty for their keystone-cops plan?

Gentleman I’m well aware how the military functions. Two brothers spent their time in Nam, one under constant fire the other a copter mechanic going on to retire civil service while on-call maintaining turbines on Aegis class ships, worldwide and that brother received some type of award signed by Reagan for streamlining a procedure to save the government millions of bucks. The two had overlapping service while in Nam. Dad retired as Lt. Commander Naval Aviator (enlisted, see if you can figure that one out). Purple heart in there somewhere. You can only imagine what the family get togethers and discussions were like.

Follow your orders, don’t ask questions, never volunteer. Congress has fixed it now where the military can now take arms up against citizens or haven’t you been paying attention?

I do give credit for the US executing so many wars recently and doing a fairly decent job, all without a draft. A force with technology to be feared, for sure.

...with intent to undermine a sovereign friendly nation."

[emphasis added... because I vociferously think this as well and have so posted! You and I are in the minority on this.]

I suspect that more people than have posted that idea agree with it or are at least open to more evidence of it. You have provided quite a bit more in that respect. A good deal more than I was aware of.

The Obama adm ALWAYS tries to kill as many birds with one stone as possible---and the bird they publicize to kill is rarely the chief bird they are aiming for.

I couldn't agree more with that and have seen it in other administration policies and actions. There is no good reason to think that F&F and other policies and programs should be viewed as having only one goal or desired effect. Pushing gun control just isn't credible as the main reason for F&F, Castaway and other similar programs revealed so far. I have no doubt that they would use them as much as possible for that though.

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