In a sign of the cost of widespread U.S. weapons smuggling into Mexico, federal law enforcement sources have confirmed that two guns, part of a series of purchases that were being monitored by authorities, were found at the scene of the firefight that killed a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Arizona.
Sources said U.S. authorities did not have the ability to adequately monitor the movement of the guns toward the southern border, in part because of current laws and low staffing.
As a result, “the next time they became aware of those weapons was when they turned up at the crime scene,” said one source, who, like others connected to the case, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing criminal investigation.
“My worst fear was that they would be used in a homicide of a Mexican military official or a Mexican police official. It crossed my mind that they would be used against U.S. forces, but I didn’t think it would happen this soon,” said another federal law enforcement source.
The disclosure comes amid a widening congressional investigation into allegations lodged by whistle-blowers within the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. They allege the agency has been aware of the purchase of assault weapons in the U.S. by buyers suspected of selling across the border but failed to adequately track them.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has asked the bureau for detailed answers about its gun-smuggling investigation, focusing on allegations that two AK-47s purchased with cash from a dealer in Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 16, 2010, were then used in the Dec. 14 firefight that left Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry dead.
