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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Federal agents hunt for guns, one house at a time Federal agents hunt for guns, one house at a time By DANE SCHILLER Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle June 30, 2009, 9:36PM In front of a run-down shack in north Houston, federal agents step from a government sedan into 102-degree heat and face a critical question: How can the woman living here buy four high-end handguns in one day? The house is worth $35,000. A screen dangles by a wall-unit air conditioner. Porch swing slats are smashed, the smattering of grass is flattened by cars and burned yellow by sun. “I’ll do the talking on this one,” agent Tim Sloan, of South Carolina, told partner Brian Tumiel, of New York. Success on the front lines of a government blitz on gunrunners supplying Mexican drug cartels with Houston weaponry hinges on logging heavy miles and knocking on countless doors. Dozens of agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — sent here from around the country — are needed to follow what ATF acting director Kenneth Melson described as a “massive number of investigative leads.” All told, Mexican officials in 2008 asked federal agents to trace the origins of more than 7,500 firearms recovered at crime scenes in Mexico. Most of them were traced back to Texas, California and Arizona. Among other things, the agents are combing neighborhoods and asking people about suspicious purchases as well as seeking explanations as to how their guns ended up used in murders, kidnappings and other crimes in Mexico. “Ever turning up the heat on cartels, our law enforcement and military partners in the government of Mexico have been working more closely with the ATF by sharing information and intelligence,” Melson said Tuesday during a firearms-trafficking summit in New Mexico. Firearms dealers visited The ATF recently dispatched 100 veteran agents to its Houston division, which reaches to the border. The mission is especially challenging because, officials say, that while Houston is the number one point of origin for weapons traced back to the United States from Mexico, the government can’t compile databases on gun owners under federal law. Agents instead review firearms dealers’ records in person. People who are legally in the United States and have clean criminal records, but are facing economic problems are often recruited by traffickers to buy weapons on their behalf in order to shield themselves from scrutiny. Knocks at the door of the shack that looked to be the definition of hard times went unanswered. “I am out of here,” Sloan said a few moments later, as a pit bull lazily sauntered from the back yard. “I don’t like pit bulls walking up behind me.” Best information source On second thought, Sloan switched to Spanish and interviewed a neighbor. The neighbor said the woman left a month ago after a fight with her husband or boyfriend, who still lived there with what she called “other degenerates.” “An angry ex-girlfriend or wife is the best person in the world, the greatest source of information,” Sloan said. The night before, the duo were in a stakeout where they watched a weapons sale. They also combined efforts with the Drug Enforcement Administration for an aircraft to stealthily follow traffickers to the border. On this day, agents weren’t wearing raid jackets or combat boots and weren’t armed with warrants. Guns were hidden under civilian shirts. Another tip took agents on a 30-minute drive from the shack to a sprawling home with a pool in the back and an American flag out front. It turned out two handguns, of a type drug gangsters prefer, were bought by a pastor for target practice. Some stories, they say, are hard to believe. The lamest so far came from a police officer: He said he bought a few military-style rifles, left them in his car and — on the same night — forgot to lock a door. He couldn’t explain why he didn’t file a police report or why he visited Mexico the day after the alleged theft.
Poster Comment: I'll repeat in case anyone missed it; Obama is far worse than Bush. Those that are now Os would have stood with us against these insults when Bush was in office. Now they stand mute.
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#1. To: Jethro Tull (#0)
Eccccch, you just have a bad attitude. The country's a goddamned utopia now. Now go smoke one of them delightful fire-safe cigarettes and have a big glass of flouridated water with your Xanax Citizen Tull.
OK, ok....I'll take my meds and become a more pleasant poster.
1,500 National Guard volunteers will be used to support the existing counter- drug program on the border with Mexico. That includes in Texas and New mexico. The plan's being worked out between the Defense Department and Homeland Security. The program would use guardsmen for surveillance, intelligence analysis, and aviation support. They would also supply ground troops who help at border crossings. Without President Obama's insistence, this plan would not happen. The Defense Department is worried the use of national guard troops will be seen as militarizing the region. Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano has been reluctant about the use of guardsmen on the border.
The smooth criminal transition from Bush/Cheney to Obama
This article makes me wonder just how much a clean AR or AK would fetch south of the Rio Grande?
bump
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
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