Most guns from raid traced to Texas

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

By Todd Bensman - Express-News

Most of the weapons found in the largest gun seizure in Mexican history have been traced by federal ATF agents to Texas retailers.

The Mexican army's raid on a Reynosa stash house in November found a trove of drug cartel weapons that included 540 rifles, 165 hand grenades, 500,000 rounds of ammunition, TNT and other munitions.

Officials with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said they were able to trace 383 serial numbers from rifles seized in the raid and that 80 percent of those weapons came from licensed firearms dealers in Texas, primarily along the border.

ATF officials declined to provide the names of specific retailers on grounds that public disclosure could compromise investigations that could lead them to smuggling rings.

The remainder of the firearms came from licensed dealers in seven other U.S. states, among them Michigan, Illinois, Louisiana and Virginia. It was unclear why trace information for other weapons counted in the stash house was unaccounted for, said the ATF's Texas spokeswoman, Francesca Perot.

Mexican officials have repeatedly cited the Reynosa seizure as emblematic of the southern flow of powerful firearms from U.S. retailers, about which they have long complained to their American counterparts.

Responding to Mexican pressure to do more to stem weapons smuggling to drug cartels, President Barack Obama last week ordered 170 more agents to the border to crack down on gun smuggling.

The agents, who more than double the ranks of investigators who have pursued smugglers and their “straw buyersâ€