Bid to Stem Flow of Weapons to Mexico Misfires

By MICHAEL ISIKOFF
Updated 10:15 AM PDT, Tue, Sep 21, 2010

CBP WASHINGTON - A major Justice Department program aimed at intercepting the flow of U.S. weapons to Mexico’s drug cartels is misfiring due to bureaucratic turf battles and a failure to share critical intelligence about illegal firearms purchases, according to an internal department report.

The draft report by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General, obtained by NBC News, is a scathing indictment of Project Gunrunner, a law enforcement initiative run by the department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The report also seems to counter statements made ATF's own officials.

On Friday, Deputy Director Kenneth Melson touted the program's success when he announced that a temporary surge of agents in Arizona under the program had led to seizures of 1,300 illegal weapons and 71,000 rounds of ammunition destined for Mexico’s cartels. Thanks to $37.5 million in new funding from Congress, Melson announced that ATF was expanding Gunrunner to target illegal gun traffickers in seven additional cities.

'Significant weaknesses'
The inspector general’s report concludes there are “significant weaknessesâ€