Alleged gun smuggling leader arrested in Tucson
The Associated Press
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 04.03.2008

PHOENIX — Arizona authorities have arrested a New Mexico man accused of being the leader of a gun smuggling network that supplied a Mexican drug cartel with weapons.
Authorities on Thursday announced the arrest of 23-year-old Victor Manuel Varela Jr., who is accused of supplying the Juarez cartel in Palomas, Mexico with rifles and guns.
Tom Mangan, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, says Varela’s network illegally bought the firearms in Arizona, transported them to New Mexico and then took them across the border.
Mangan says the guns were used by members of the Juarez cartel in Palomas in ongoing confrontations with rival drug cartels and with law enforcement authorities.
Varela was arrested Tuesday at a Tucson home.
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/232772.php