The number of pols calling for Attorney General Eric Holder’s head over the Fast and Furious gun running scandal continues to multiply. As do the number of weapons “recovered” from the program’s “customers.” foxnews.com confirms that two out of the 108 weapons confiscated during a recent drug bust have been traced to the ATF’s “Guns for Goons” program. In this case, the law enforcement effort was called “Operation Pipeline,” led by Arizona Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu. azcentral.com reports that the Sheriff’s Office busted a Sinaloa Cartel member muling $2 million worth of heroin. Oddly, the drug thug’s arrest revealed a capture and release policy . . .

The Sheriff’s Office said it was the second time the suspect had been arrested in three weeks. The suspect was initially arrested Oct. 13 during a warrant roundup of Operation Pipeline Express, which authorities described as the dismantling of one of the biggest drug-smuggling operations uncovered in Arizona.

At the time, the suspect, whose name is expected to be made public this afternoon, was released into Mexico because he was not a main target of the Pipeline operation, the sheriff’s statement said.

The fact that the dismantled drug running ring was a Sinaloan enterprise is significant; the cartel has been the Mexican government’s ally against Los Zetas. It adds credence to rumors that Mexico has shifted policy, attacking their former friends ahead of the 2012 elections. The move attempts to prove the PRI’s anti-cartel purity—and discourage Sinaloa cartel members from spilling the beans on governmental collusion.

America has a horse in this race too. They’ve been backing the Mexicans who’ve been backing (or at least not attacking) the Sinaloans. In the wake of the Fast and Furious scandal, the administration is also making moves to distance themselves from the dirty dealing which led to the [supposedly] anti-gun running gun running op.

For one thing, our sources tell us that the U.S. and Mexican governments have put a price on the head of Sinaloa jefe Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman. They’ve also launched a PR campaign to demonize the drug lord (who, it must be said, is plenty damn demonic).

For another, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer doubled down on the administration’s rationale behind Fast and Furious. AFP reports that Breuer told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing that SOMETHING MUST BE DONE ABOUT MEXICAN GUN SMUGGLING!

“It is clear that we need more tools to get those people who are buying the guns and illegally transporting them to Mexico,” Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing. “We need to stop the flow.”

You want chutzpah? The man repping the Bureau responsible increasing the flow of U.S. gun store guns to Mexican drug cartels—by some 2000 weapons in just 10 months—is bitching about Mexican gun smugglers. The same man who knows damn well that U.S. military weapon sales to Latin America are the cartels’ main source for firearms.

And how about Breuer’s reliance on a the same thoroughly discredited stat that the ATF used to begin Operation Fast and Furious? Downsized for extra plausibility.

According to Justice Department figures, in the past five years 94,000 weapons have been recovered from Mexican drug cartels, of which 64,000 — 70 percent — come from the United States.

Yet currently the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), a division of the Justice Department, is not permitted to “receive reports about multiple sales of long guns, of any kind of semiautomatic weapon or the like,” Breuer said.

“Very few hunters in the United States or sports people and law-abiding people really need to have semiautomatic weapons or long guns,” he said.

Breuer said that if US officials were notified then they could keep track of the powerful weapons.

US officials should also be able to “forfeit the weapons and the inventories of gun dealers who knowingly sell their guns to criminals,” Breuer said.

Never mind Eric Holder’s perjury about his knowledge of Fast and Furious. This is the most damning testimony to date. Breuer is shamelessly admitting the AG’s bias against gun ownership and gun owners and suggesting that gun control is responsible for the ATF’s “botched sting.” Well that and a “neutered” ATF (thank you NRA).

The Obama administration doesn’t “get it.” They are directly responsible for a program that contributed to the death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and U.S. Customs and Immigrations Agent Jaime Zapata and dozens of Mexican nationals. It’s not that the ATF did too little. It’s that they did too much.

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31 COMMENTS

  1. Big question : How is it that the suspect is being arrested for a “second time” IN LESS THAN A MONTH???????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    A lesser question toward all those involved with F & F: Where exactly were you suposed to track these weapons too???????? Arizona? Real swift there speedy!

    • None of the government’s explanations or described motivations make any sense and therefore are not true. They are a defensive screen, thrown up to deflect any investigation and as a presentation to the public which they feel will stifle any further examination. The media know the truth or at least suspect the truth and are unwilling to report any of it with small exceptions.

      They got away with WACO folks. It is not unreasonable that they would continue to engage in the same activies if no one cares enough to hang them. Which is EXACTLY, what these people deserve. A public hanging. Treason, Murder, Conspiracy to Commit as minimum charges and the plan goes all the way to the white house.

      • I agree they got away with Waco but I’d like an explanation of why they were able to get away with it?

  2. Dirty guns float around for decades. The oldest one I’ve seen personally was a P 38 from WWII with the serial gouged off. This was an everyday carry for a former associate of mine about ten years ago. He got rid of it and I’m sure it’ll turn up somewhere else and at a crime scene eventually. Hot pieces tend to show back up with a bang and Obama and this entire administration will be LONG out of office before we see the last of these weapons.

    So color me very shocked a cartel member was caught with one. /sarcasm

    • There is no such thing as a dirty gun. Only a dirty human being who is a criminal who uses the firearm to commit a crime.

  3. Are we really pretending that the people killed with f&f guns would not of been victims of gun violence had f&f guns not been exported? American gun stores are not the easiest way for the mexican cartel to get guns, they have ridiculous amounts of money and there are sellers willing to sell full auto guns and explosive munitions, from countries like china and russia. Probably at less expense then american gun store neutered military rifles. Im not trying to defend the actions of those involved, I just wanted to share a different perspective.

    • I don’t think anyone is saying that the cartels would not have killed had they not received these guns. That is what makes this whole thing so insidious. The entire point of F&F was to tarnish American gun owners and American gun culture in the interest of furthering Obama’s gun control agenda. This was meant to serve as an object lesson about how many “American” guns are being used to commit crimes in Mexico.

      Fortunately, someone at the ATF with a conscience opened this whole putrid mess up for examination.

    • The Sinolas are the ones that we let import tons of cocaine in exchange for information on the Zetas. All’s fair in corrupt governments and criminal entities.

  5. Yes, the sinoloas are the good murdering drug dealers. The Zetas are the bad murdering drug dealers.

    • we will turn on the sinoloas eventually. remember Saddam used to be our country’s BFF. How’d that turn out for him?

      • How’d it turn out for Kadaffi/Quadaffi/Ghadaffi/Gahdaffi/Khadaffi/Kahdaffi/Qudaffi/Quadahffi/ Pinnochios Cell Mate? … too much?

  6. call me old fashioned but I long for the days when only a small minority of individual cops were corrupt, not entire federal agencies.

  7. “Very few hunters in the United States or sports people and law-abiding people really need to have semiautomatic weapons or long guns,” he said.

    Seriously? No need for Semi-autos OR long guns? So all that leaves us with is bolt-action and black powder pistols.

    • More seriously, what part of “shall not be infringed” don’t these people get?

      There’s no “need” clause.

    • Well, that would make it tough to hunt AT ALL!! Seing as it’s LONG GUNS that we use to hunt (both shotguns and rifles fall under the “long gun” category) so there goes hunting. Sorry Elmer, but your deer rifle could be used for a sniper rifle so you don’t need it, and well your shotgun is possible to fire multiple projectiles at once and nobody needs to do that to hunt. And handguns are just evil anyway – but thank you for you previous support of “reasonable” gun control.

      Sorry for the sarcasm, but this puts paid to the lie that hunting implements aren’t subject to the gun-grabbers intent to purge (much to Mr. Fudds dismay). The sooner we wake up to the clear and present dangers BOTH political parties present to the Constitution, the sooner we can hopefully stem the continuous tide of erosion of our liberties. Time to remind them that they swore and oath, and we will hold them to it, or pay the penalty…..

      They aren’t referred to as “Liberty teeth” for nothing ya know………

  8. so let me get this straight. The keystone cops at the ATF and the US Justice Department who LOST THE GUNS THEIR GUYS WALKED say if only they were advised of the sale of more than 1 type of weapon by a legitimate gun dealer they WOULD be able to track THOSE weapons because…. well… because the ATF et. al. will suddenly become COMPETENT when the guns are sold with a law that requires reporting while they were INCOMPETENT to track weapons when THEIR GUYS WALKED the wespons? Riiiiiiiight. What an incompetent bunch of frikin criminals.

  10. “It is clear that we need more tools to get those people who are buying the guns and illegally transporting them to Mexico, * * *.”

    No, we just we to replace the incompetent set of bureaucrats currently running the AG and BATF.

    • I think that the BATFE already have plenty of “tools.” What they really need is some competent, non-political law enforcement officers.

  11. I simply do not understand why Sheriff Babeau let the druggie walk (twice arrested in 3 weeks). What’s up with that? Help me out.

  13. This just in from Bloomberg: “Obama Miracle is White House Free of Scandal”http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-27/obama-miracle-is-white-house-free-of-scandal-commentary-by-jonathan-alter.htmlYeah….riiiiiight. It may just be me, but I see supporters are breaking out the buckets and bailing water.

    My favorite part of the article is where the author says that the Obama administration likes to “fire first and investigate later.” I’m sure that at the investigate later part is true.

      • True, their entire organization seems to be overrun by General Denial… it would have driven me crazy to not say it.

        on topic: “At the time, the suspect, whose name is expected to be made public this afternoon, was released into Mexico because he was not a main target of the Pipeline operation, the sheriff’s statement said.”

        Am i reading that right when i understand that a guy with $2mil in heroin gets released cause he wasn’t the target?

      • I suspect the entire Bloomberg organization is overseen by Major Denial

        Capably assisted by General Apathy and Major Boredom.

    • First off, this was an opinion piece by an author who wrote a book on Obama.

      If you read the article, he also says

      “Unfortunately, we might not know of scandals in stimulus spending or elsewhere because of changes in the news business. For today’s media, talk is cheap and reporting is expensive. That means we get more chatter and less scrounging for official wrongdoing. ”

      He also makes it clear that a lot of people on the other side of the isle have cried wolf and have not followed up on the claims and you know what happens when you play chicken little — which is his point towards the end.

      I am not an Obama fan, but given the idiots on the Republican side who will be running against him, Obama is here for 4 more years like it or not and there will be plenty of scandels that will hit regarding stimulous payments and some of his recent executive orders as well as F&F and the Solar Power Company etc. They will hit next year I am sure just in time for the election.

  14. taken from AP release
    Amanda lee Meyers reporting Nov. 1 2011

    “”Francisco Guillermo Morales Esquer, 36, was arrested Oct. 13 in one of three major busts that state and federal officials credited with dismantling the smuggling ring, which is believed to be tied to the Sinaloa cartel — Mexico’s most powerful.””

    “”Catching Morales two weeks after he was arrested as part of the department’s larger bust involving the Sinaloa cartel was the height of irony, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said at a Tuesday news conference.””

    entire article here
    http://news.yahoo.com/man-deported-caught-1-6m-drugs-arizona-211030578.html

    Ok so our southern border holds nothing back. This dealer / mule was deported to Mexico and while the feds are busy patting themselves on the back for disbanding a Drug ring and ending its scourge, he comes back to start deliveries in less than a month. Wow that is some shutdown ring, I can sleep better knowing that the addicts have to wait 3 weeks for their fix.

    That is a definition of tenacious behavior. Money is the motivator.
    Our current politicos are so busy fighting a shadow puppet war of posturing for the press and media show while the serious problems are swept on down the road for later.
    Never mind the laws that exist and are not enforced, we must pass more laws to take session time (the in god we trust vote)(long gun registry) and cause even deeper rifts to pull the USA apart for profit.

  15. Uh, that guy was already breaking numerous laws. How will ones that more heavily restrict US gun owners stop such behavior, when laws clearly don’t have an effect as it stands?

    Also, that “70% of recovered guns are from America” is one of the most ridiculous numbers to come out of the left wing media in a while about guns. That figure proved one thing exactly–the guy who the FBI sent down to select guns to check on their origins was correct 70% of the time.

    • the guy who the FBI sent down to select guns to check on their origins was correct 70% of the time . . . which set a new accuracy record for government work.

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