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July 02, 2009
Federal Agents Hunt For Guns, One House At A Time
Federal agents hunt for guns, one house at a time
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.
Wild Thing's comment.......
I guess multiple gun purchases in day are red flagged.
....Thank you JohnE PFC U.S. Army for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at July 2, 2009 06:45 AM
Comments
If they'd close the border they wouldn't have this problem. If she passed the background check whats the bid deal. No Big brother has to be snooping and sneaking around seeing what they can find out about private citizens.
This is the harbinger of things to come.
As far as I am concerned it is none of their goddam business who buys a gun. If they'd arrest the Illegals and deport the bastards this problem would almost solve itself.
Posted by: Mark at July 2, 2009 11:09 AM
Yes, close the damn border. Most of Mexico's guns are coming from international arms dealers smuggling them in along Mexico's long coastlines.
Also, the whole situation might not exist if it wasn't for the stupid Americans with their drug usage. "Gotta have those highs man". Drugs cause more problems than anything else in America except government.
Posted by: TomR at July 2, 2009 12:19 PM
Guns don't kill people, the ATF does.
See the getapo can't prosecute the damn illegals, so what do they do come into your home on behalf of F*CKING MEXICO!!! I will not give MY Guns up FOR ANY of those WETBACK F*CKERS! They'll literally have to kill me. I'm hispanic for all of you liberals, so I can say wetback if I damn well want to. COME AND TAKE THEM MOTHERF*CKERS!!!
Posted by: JohnE PFC U.S. Army at July 2, 2009 12:20 PM
Let's see here, Tylenol kills, let's take it all off the market.
Blanket punishment for defending yourself justified in the interest of public safety.
Amendment 4 is protected by Amendment 2 which protect all of them.
You are not alone JohnE PFC U.S. Army.
Posted by: Jack at July 2, 2009 03:04 PM
Mark, DITTO that.
They make it obvious they want all this
happening including the Mexican gangs here
illegally that rape, murder and kidnap
Americans. Our government does not care
and if they did boom bah they would close
the borders.
And the Border Patrol would stil have
plenty of work to do and it would help
them too.
I agree about the guns Mark too.
Posted by: Wild Thing at July 2, 2009 06:54 PM
Tom, thanks for the information about
the guns.
I agree about the druggies too. Our
courts have been really easy on the
pushers and heck users too.
Posted by: Wild Thing at July 2, 2009 06:55 PM
JohnE PFC U.S. Army, I agreee!!!
Well said JohnE.
Posted by: Wild Thing at July 2, 2009 06:59 PM
Jack, good one,never thought in my
life I would see any of this BS
happening.
Posted by: Wild Thing at July 2, 2009 07:03 PM
