Mexico probes U.S. weapons operation
March 13, 2011 10:30 PM
THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD

Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office said Friday that it has begun investigations to determine if the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives could be subject to legal action for operation "Fast and Furious" that allowed the illegal entry of weapons into Mexico without its knowledge.

If there is legal recourse, Jorge Alberto Lara Rivera, a deputy assistant attorney general, said action would be pursued in Mexico and that there would be sanctions.

Lara’s comments came Friday during an interview with several reporters in Mexico City. The PGR provided a transcript of the interview.

Lara also said it is possible that Mexico could seek the extradition of the Columbus, New Mexico mayor, police chief and a city elected officials arrested Thursday on drug and weapons trafficking charges if it is shown that the weapons were moved to Mexico and that crimes were committed in Mexico with them. "We will analyze the case," Lara said.

This comes in the heels of nonstop developments following recent revelations that ATF’s Phoenix-based operation, dubbed "Fast and Furious," permitted weapons to land in the hands of suspected Mexican gunrunners with the intent of identifying and prosecuting major weapons smugglers and drug cartel operatives.

The operation has come under harsh scrutiny after it was revealed that weapons used to kill U.S. Immigration and Customs Special Agent Jaime Jorge Zapata of Brownsville and Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry of Arizona might be linked to the operation.

Mexico’s Attorney General Alberto Chavez Chavez’s office issued a statement Thursday that Mexico does not authorize undercover operations that affect the country’s integrity and he asked the U.S. government for details of the operation.

A day earlier, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said that she had not authorized the federal operation and that the program had been approved through the Department of Justice, while U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said later in the week that he has requested an investigation into the operation.

'Letting guns walk’ is not something that is acceptable. Guns are different than drugs or money when we are trying to follow their trail. That is not acceptable," Holder said during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing. Holder said that he has made this clear to attorneys and ATF agents.

In Thursday’s statement, PGR said that, "The government of Mexico also has initiated investigations to determine if violations were committed on Mexican territory."

Lara said Friday that as soon as Mexico heard of reports regarding operation Fast and Furious, U.S. officials contacted their counterparts in Phoenix to ask them about it and that they denied that the operation included the movement of weapons.

According to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, Fast and Furious was conducted on U.S. territory and U.S. law enforcement briefed Mexican officials as plans unfolded on operations in the U.S. through January.

Lara said that Mexico would never have approved an operation that would include, under any conditions, the trafficking of arms, even controlled trafficking, from the U.S. to Mexico. He said that Mexican agents participated in an operation in Phoenix in January in the detention of arms traffickers, "but we never knew, never have known that this operation or any other would include the movement of arms or the controlled purchases of arms to Mexico," he said.

Lara also addressed extraditions, noting that "we have talked with the authorities in the U.S. and with the embassy so that we can be able to extradite persons involved in arms trafficking. The problem is that some conduct in our country is penalized whereas it is not in the U.S." Lara said the legalities are being reviewed so that persons, including U.S. citizens, could be extradited to Mexico.
Phil Jordan, the former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent-in charge of the Dallas office, who also is a former director of the El Paso Intelligence Center, weighed in, noting that, "cover-ups on flawed operations only enhance the power of the bad guys."

"With Mexico fighting a real drug war, ATF or any other federal U.S. agency should NEVER allow weapons to knowingly be smuggled into Mexico; never in Spanish means NUNCA. These types of programs give Washington a black eye, and violate Mexico’s sovereignty."

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