ATF Seizes More Than 1K Guns, 71K Ammunition Rounds on Border

Updated: Friday, 17 Sep 2010, 6:22 PM MDT
Published : Friday, 17 Sep 2010, 1:25 PM MDT


By STEVE KRAFFT
FOX 10 News

PHOENIX - On Friday, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives showed off the results of a very successful operation in Arizona.

Between May 1 and August 6, 2010, the ATF seized 1,300 guns and 71,000 rounds of ammunition.

80 ATF agents worked in Phoenix, Tucson and Albuquerque. The goal was to disrupt firearms trafficking into Mexico for use in the drug cartels' war against the Mexican military.

Agents targeted straw purchasers, people recruited by criminals, who bought guns legally in the Phoenix area and then transferred them to smugglers, who sought to bring them into Mexico to arm drug gangs.

ATF also searched vehicles heading south and in one case, stopped a truck carrying over 9,500 rounds of ammunition. The ATF also seized drugs and money.

It branded the operation a success in an ongoing war.

Operation agents acknowledged there are many guns getting through to Mexico, but exactly how many is not known.

The people who smuggled guns into Mexico face charges in the United States.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/cr ... r-09172010