Probe alleges illegal arms sales to Mexico

Note: The German government and press has at least tracked, investigated and channeled the case of illegal arms sales. Also note that four states were banned for weapons sales: Guerrero, Chiapas, Jalisco and Chihuahua. How many lives could be saved if the United States banned high-powered weapons sales and aid to these states? It will be interesting to see how prosecution goes. Meanwhile, we cannot even get a list of what units are prohibited for human rights reasons for receiving lethal aid. This makes one suspect that the law is not being applied. As the situation in Mexico just gets worse...

Mexico News Daily: Allegations that a German arms manufacturer illegally sold guns to Mexico have gained more credence following the publication of a report yesterday.

A report published by a German newspaper says Heckler & Koch could face a heavy fine for delivering G36 assault rifles to four Mexican states, contrary to export restrictions. Those restrictions were imposed on the basis of suspected police corruption and collaboration with organized crime in Chiapas, Chihuahua, Guerrero and Jalisco. Read more.

Son of Mexico cartel boss pleads guilty to U.S. smuggling charge

Reuters: The son of a former Mexico cartel boss faces up to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in a U.S. court to trying to smuggle ammunition across the Texas border into Mexico, federal authorities said Wednesday.

Osiel Cardenas, Jr., is the son of Osiel Cardenas-Guillen, who headed the Gulf Cartel in Northeastern Mexico until he was sentenced to 25 years in prison after his arrest in 2003. Read more. 

Former Mexico Diplomat Returns Diploma to Harvard to Protest Calderón's Presence

Proceso: Editors
Translated by Mexico Voices Blog 

Mexico City - Former Ambassador Héctor Vasconcelos returned his degree in Political Science to Harvard University after the institution did not withdraw its invitation to Felipe Calderón.

In a brief letter sent to Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust, the former Consul in Boston and Ambassador to Norway, Denmark and Iceland, stated that Harvard had taught him that its graduates must keep their word.

"Now I must send my diploma back to Harvard. I do this with great sadness, because it is easily the most worthy document that I have had in my life," says the letter from the son of José Vasconcelos, former president of the UNAM [National Autonomous University of Mexico].

On January 15, Vasconcelos wrote a letter to David T. Ellwood, Dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, which states that if Calderón remains welcome to begin a scholarship for study at that institution, [Vasconcelos] will find himself in the "painful situation" of returning his academic degree.

Mexico Seized Nearly 70,000 Guns from US in Last Five Years

Fox News Latino: Roughly 68,000 guns recovered in Mexico since 2007 came from the United States, according to newly released government data.

The flood of tens of thousands of weapons underscores complaints from Mexico that the U.S. is responsible for arming the drug cartels plaguing its southern neighbor. Six years of violence between warring cartels have killed more than 47,000 people in Mexico.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives released its latest data covering 2007 through 2011. According to ATF, many of the guns seized in Mexico and submitted to ATF for tracing were recovered at the scenes of cartel shootings while others were seized in raids on illegal arms caches. All the recovered weapons were suspected of being used in crimes in Mexico. read more

Mexico Asks United States to Ban Assault Weapons to Stem Drug War Violence

Fox News Latino: "U.S. President Barack Obama, Mexico's Felipe Calderón and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Monday concluded a summit that highlighted their commitment to greater cooperation on security and economic advancement in North America.

The meeting, postponed from November 2011, took place at the White House and ran for a little more than three hours focusing on matters such as fighting organized crime, job creation and the competitiveness of and within the region." read more

Drug War: Mexico, awash in weapons, has just one legal gun store

Kansas City Star: "Mexico has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the world. If any of the nation's 112 million citizens want to buy firearms, there's only one store where they can do it legally. It's on a sprawling military base and run by the army.

That, however, hasn't stopped Mexicans from acquiring firearms. The country is awash in illegal guns, many of them assault weapons in the hands of merciless criminal gangs. President Felipe Calderon says authorities have seized more than 140,000 weapons since he came to office in late 2006. Many of them, Mexican officials assert, were purchased in the United States." read more

Fast and Furious: Gun-tracking operation netted its top suspect, then let him go

latimes.com: "Federal agents stopped the main target of the ill-fated Operation Fast and Furious in May 2010. After they questioned him, he disappeared back into Mexico, and the program went on to spiral out of control." read more

U.S.-Mexico Relations: Calderon asks Biden to stop the flow of arms to Mexico

Milenio: "Mexico City • President Felipe Calderon and U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden reaffirmed the commitment of both countries' governments to the consolidation of their shared responsibility, trust and mutual respect as the basis for cooperation in all areas.

During their meeting at the official residence of Los Pinos, they agreed on the importance of coordinated work with a long term vision of the welfare and safety of the two societies. They emphasized the importance of the contributions made by migrants to their communities of origin and destination.

Calderon reiterated "the priority need to strengthen actions against the trafficking of weapons into our country and money laundering."" Spanish original

Movement for Peace Caravan to the North: Javier Sicilia Talks about Mexican Violence and U.S. Responsibility

North American Congress on Latin America: "This is the third (and final) set of excerpts from a long conversation I had with Sicilia about three weeks ago. In the first installment I excerpted some of Sicilia’s comments on the questions of nonviolence and the process of dialogue. In a second installment, I excerpted comments on the question of the unraveling of Mexico’s social fabric.

In this installment, I present more excerpts from that same conversation, this time focused on the rationale for the MPJD’s upcoming caravan through the United States. This Fall, Sicilia will bring a caravan to the United States, where it will travel from California to New England attempting to raise awareness of the wave of violence Mexico is living through and, in particular, the relationship between that violence and U.S. policies and institutions." read more

Drug War Weapons Traffic: Mexico leader's message to US: 'No more weapons!'

TODAY.com: "President Felipe Calderon on Thursday unveiled a "No More Weapons!" billboard made with crushed firearms and placed near the U.S. border. He urged the United States to stop the flow of weapons into Mexico.

The billboard, which is in English and weighs 3 tons, was placed near an international bridge in Ciudad Juarez and can be seen from the United States. Calderon said the billboard's letters were made with weapons seized by local, state and federal authorities." read more

Drug War Weapons Traffic: ATF Busts Real Housewives Buying Guns for Cartels

Fox News Latino: "U.S. federal authorities busted an alleged gun smuggling ring that employed young housewives and older moms to purchase assault rifles for smugglers taking guns to Mexican drug cartels.

More than 200 weapons, including AK-47s and sniper rifles, were seized and 22 people have been arrested. Many are accused of being so-called "straw buyers" — gun shoppers without prior criminal records who legitimately buy from licensed dealers, then hand the weapons to smugglers." read more

Drug War Weapons Traffic: Slain border agent's family files $25M claim against U.S.

Slain border agent's family files $25M claim against U.S. – USATODAY.com: "The family of slain Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry filed a $25 million wrongful death claim Wednesday against the federal government, saying he was killed because U.S. investigators allowed murder weapons into the hands of criminals.

Terry died Dec. 14, 2010, when his special-operations unit got into a shootout with border bandits in a remote canyon area near Rio Rico. At the scene, investigators found two AK-47s that were traced back to a gun-smuggling probe by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives." read more

Drug War Weapons Traffic: US Attorney General Faces Renewed Criticism Over Mexico Gun Operation

Voice of America: "U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has faced a new round of Republican criticism over a controversial tactic in which U.S. authorities allowed gun buyers to move arms into Mexico, destined for drug cartels.

In testimony to Congress Thursday, regarding "Operation Fast and Furious" ... Holder said, "The tactic of not interdicting weapons, despite having the ability and legal authority to do so, appears to have been adopted in a misguided effort to stem the alarming number of illegal firearms that are trafficked each year from the United States to Mexico. ... to be sure, stopping this dangerous flow of weapons is a laudable and critical goal, but attempting to achieve it by using such inappropriate tactics is neither acceptable nor excusable."

... The head of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, California Republican Darrell Issa, has accused Holder of protecting staff, deceiving the public and obstructing the panel's investigation.
At the hearing Thursday, he warned of possible congressional action to force the Justice Department to provide information to the committee." read more

Drug War and the Rule of Law: Law-Abiding Mexicans Taking Up Illegal Guns

NPR: "In Mexico, where criminals are armed to the teeth with high-powered weapons smuggled from the United States, it may come as a surprise that the country has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the world. Law-abiding Mexicans who want a gun to defend themselves have no good options. Either they fight government red tape to get a legal permit, or they buy one on the black market.

After an outbreak of violence, one embattled community in northern Mexico called Colonia LeBaron has begun to ask if it's time for the country to address its gun laws." read more

Drug War Weapons Traffic: Justice Department Changes Inquiry Response Procedures To Congress After Fast And Furious

Fox News: "The Justice Department is tightening procedures for responding to information requests from Congress in the aftermath of a troubled arms trafficking investigation. ... The Justice Department told three congressional committees in a letter Friday night that it has improved coordination between agents and their managers in carrying out arms trafficking investigations.

... Some ATF agents with direct knowledge of what had gone on with Operation Fast and Furious were talking to Congressman Grassley's office. In contrast, the Justice Department was relying on information from top ATF officials in Washington and the U.S. attorney in Phoenix, who all incorrectly denied that ATF was allowing weapons purchases by "straw" buyers to transport guns into Mexico.

In the letter to Congress on Friday night, Deputy Attorney General James Cole said the department must solicit information directly from employees with detailed personal knowledge of the subject matter at issue and consult records relevant to the inquiry if such records are available." read more

Drug War - Fast and Furious: Obama administration reveals new ATF gun probe rules

Reuters/chicagotribune.com: " The Obama administration on Friday revealed new reforms undertaken to improve how it conducts undercover gun trafficking investigations in the wake of a botched operation in which scores of weapons disappeared.

The reforms require additional oversight of undercover operations, including those that involve more than 50 firearms, and, in most cases, ends the practice of paying gun dealers to serve as confidential informants. Additionally, a new review committee has been established to monitor sensitive undercover cases or those that would have a "significant regional or national impact," according to theJustice Department." read more

Drug War - Fast and Furious: Justice Department official suggested to Mexican officials letting guns cross border

AP/Washington Post: "Newly released Justice Department emails sent to Capitol Hill for a congressional inquiry into a gun-smuggling operation indicate that the head of the department’s criminal division suggested letting some illicit “straw” weapons buyers in the U.S. transport their guns across the border into Mexico where they could be arrested.

According to the emails turned over to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Friday night, the Justice official, Lanny Breuer, made the suggestion to Mexican officials because it “may send a strong message to arms traffickers.”" read more

Drug War Weapons Traffic: First Convictions From Fast And Furious Gun Probe

First Convictions From Fast And Furious Gun Probe | Fox News: "Two men pleaded guilty to buying guns that were destined to be smuggled into Mexico, the first convictions in the federal government's botched Operation Fast and Furious. The men were so-called "straw buyers" who acknowledged purchasing guns that they knew were headed to Mexican drug gangs.

... Jacob Wayne Chambers and Jacob Anthony Montelongo each pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to a conspiracy charge. Montelongo also pleaded guilty to dealing guns without a license. The pair admitted being part of a 20-person smuggling ring that is accused of running guns into Mexico for use by the Sinaloa drug cartel." read more

Drug War - Fast and Furious: Federal prosecutor cites Fifth in 'Fast and Furious' probe

Washington Times: "The chief of the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona has cited his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination in refusing on Friday to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in its ongoing investigation into the failed “Fast and Furious” gunrunning operation." read more

Drug War Weapons Traffic: US Gun Dealers on Mexico Border Must Report Multiple Sales

InSight Crime: "A ruling by a US judge on tracking the sale of high-powered firearms in states on the southern border is a step forward for authorities trying to legislate against the flow of guns into Mexico.

Federal Judge Rosemary Collyer upheld an order made last year by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The ATF asked more than 8,000 gun dealers in Arizona, Texas, California and New Mexico to report sales of multiple semi-automatic rifles to one individual within five business days, reported Reuters." read more