Cartel gun-supplier's trial begins in Arizona


By Tim Gaynor, Reuters
11:56 a.m. March 3, 2009

PHOENIX — Jury selection began in Phoenix Tuesday in the trial of a U.S. gun dealer charged with knowingly selling hundreds of weapons to smugglers shopping for Mexican drug cartels.

Prosecutors say George Iknadosian, 47, sold AK-47 assault rifles and other guns to third-party buyers for the cartels in Mexico, where 6,000 people were killed in drug violence last year.
Iknadosian denies the charges.

Since 2006, Mexico has sent tens of thousands of troops to fight powerful cocaine cartels locked in a bloody war for control of lucrative cross-border smuggling routes to the United States.

Gun sales are illegal in Mexico. Investigators say nine out of every 10 guns recovered from Mexican crime scenes are traced back to U.S. gun dealers, prompting Mexican authorities to urge the United States to crack down on the trade.

After an 11-month effort by Mexican authorities and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to curb gunrunners, they nabbed Iknadosian.

ATF said third parties, known as “straw purchasers,â€