Fast and Furious weapons tied to high profile killing in Mexico
Abducted Mario Gonzalez surrounded by drug cartel enforcers just before his murder.
Police One
The
news emanating from the United States regarding the political firestorm
of Operation Furious and Furious and its connection to the killing of
Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, has renewed interest in another murder
that's linked to the controversial gunrunning operation, a drug
enforcement official formerly assigned to duty in Mexico told the Law Enforcement Examiner on Sunday.
According to the drug enforcement source, Mario Gonzalez, the brother of a Mexican law enforcement official, was abducted in 2011 by Mexican drug cartel enforcers who then tortured him and forced him to make a bogus confession al-la al-Qaeda-style videotaping. When the video was completed, the cartel killers savagely executed him.
While American officials offered their condolences to the sister of cartel's victim, they never dreamed at the time that the weapons used by those cartel enforcers were firearms that U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) allowed to be smuggled into Mexico and into the hands of vicious cartel members, said the Law Enforcement Examiner source who requested anonymity.
According to several government and news media reports, U.S. ATF agents had allowed AK-47 assault rifles -- later found in the killers' arsenal -- to be smuggled across the border under the notorious Fast and Furious gun-walking program.
"U.S. officials also kept mum as other weapons linked to Fast and Furious turned up at dozens of additional Mexican crime scenes, with an unconfirmed toll of at least 150 people killed or wounded," said the source.
Almost a year after U.S. congressional hearings and the reassignment of the acting chief of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, top Mexican officials say American authorities still have not explained the operation or the dreadful results of that operation, the source said.
Patricia Gonzalez, the top state prosecutor in Chihuahua at the time of her brother's kidnapping, said she has worked closely with U.S. law enforcement officers for years and was stunned that she did not learn until many months later, through media reports, about the link between her brother's death and Fast and Furious weapons, according to the Mexican news media.
Operation Fast and Furious weapons were also tied to other deadly incidents in Mexico. In May 24, a helicopter carrying Mexican federal police during an operation in the western state of Michoacan was forced to land after bullets from a powerful Barrett .50-caliber rifle pierced its fuselage and armor-reinforced windshield. Three officers were wounded.
According to the drug enforcement source, Mario Gonzalez, the brother of a Mexican law enforcement official, was abducted in 2011 by Mexican drug cartel enforcers who then tortured him and forced him to make a bogus confession al-la al-Qaeda-style videotaping. When the video was completed, the cartel killers savagely executed him.
While American officials offered their condolences to the sister of cartel's victim, they never dreamed at the time that the weapons used by those cartel enforcers were firearms that U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) allowed to be smuggled into Mexico and into the hands of vicious cartel members, said the Law Enforcement Examiner source who requested anonymity.
According to several government and news media reports, U.S. ATF agents had allowed AK-47 assault rifles -- later found in the killers' arsenal -- to be smuggled across the border under the notorious Fast and Furious gun-walking program.
"U.S. officials also kept mum as other weapons linked to Fast and Furious turned up at dozens of additional Mexican crime scenes, with an unconfirmed toll of at least 150 people killed or wounded," said the source.
Almost a year after U.S. congressional hearings and the reassignment of the acting chief of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, top Mexican officials say American authorities still have not explained the operation or the dreadful results of that operation, the source said.
Patricia Gonzalez, the top state prosecutor in Chihuahua at the time of her brother's kidnapping, said she has worked closely with U.S. law enforcement officers for years and was stunned that she did not learn until many months later, through media reports, about the link between her brother's death and Fast and Furious weapons, according to the Mexican news media.
Operation Fast and Furious weapons were also tied to other deadly incidents in Mexico. In May 24, a helicopter carrying Mexican federal police during an operation in the western state of Michoacan was forced to land after bullets from a powerful Barrett .50-caliber rifle pierced its fuselage and armor-reinforced windshield. Three officers were wounded.
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