LA Times: "ATF Fast and Furious guns turned up in El Paso"

[friendly_iconoclast]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-atf-guns-20110929,0,201277.story

ATF Fast and Furious guns turned up in El Paso

By Richard A. Serrano, Washington Bureau

September 29, 2011
Reporting from Washington— A cache of assault weapons lost in the ATF's gun-trafficking surveillance operation in Phoenix turned up in El Paso, where it was being stored for shipment to Mexico, according to new internal agency emails and federal court records.

Forty firearms along with ammunition magazines and ballistic vests were discovered in Texas in January 2010 during the early stages of the program, meaning the firearms vanished soon after the program began....

....According to an ATF document, Sean Christopher Steward bought the 40 AK-47-type assault rifles on Dec. 24, 2009, from the Lone Wolf Trading Co. gun store in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix. The cache was part of 290 firearms ultimately acquired by Steward, a convicted drug felon, during the Fast and Furious operation.

According to ATF emails and a federal court affidavit, El Paso police officers tracking alleged drug smuggling from Mexico followed a dark blue Volkswagen Jetta as it backed into a garage at a residence on Jan. 13, 2010. The driver was identified as Alberto Sandoval. Police later searched the vehicle and found the weapons and other devices....

This just keeps getting worse and worse...

[Hoopla Phil]

1. People need to be in jail for this.

It was/is criminal activity that violates U.S. law, Mexican law, and International law.

[Iktomiwicasa]

2. yup...

...regardless of how high up it goes. And IMO, a fuck up of this magnitude goes pretty high up the food chain.

[RaleighNCDUer]

3. Well, at least they found them. nt

[friendly_iconoclast]

4. You will note that it was the El Paso PD that found them after the ATF lost them.

The ATF was like Wernher Von Braun in that Tom Lehrer song:
"I shoot the rockets in the air. Where they fall, I do not care..."

[Nuclear Unicorn]

9. "lost them" or "gave them away"?

Intent goes pretty far in a court of law.

[rl6214]

5. Dayum

I live in El Paso and nobody told me those weapons were here. I need to improve my gangbanger contacts so I know when stuff like this is on the streets and I might be able to pick up a few on the street corners or maybe my local gun show.

[spin]

6. The weapons were purchased by a convicted drug felon?

Whatever happened to the NICS background check? Note that the ATF does not run this check, the FBI does.

ATF Death Watch 89: 40 Fast and Furious Firearms “Found” in El Paso
Posted on September 29, 2011 by Robert Farago

There are so many curious aspects to the Gunwalker scandal. There are well over a thousand smoking guns still out there, somewhere. All of which prove that the ATF “lost control” of Operation Fast and Furious. But there is no single piece of evidence that answers the fundamental question about Uncle Sam’s gun running black bag job: why? What was the point of allowing bad guys to buy guns? The ATF claims they were going after the “big fish” controlling the U.S. gun stores-to-Mexican drug cartel weapons trade. That hardly seems likely—as there were no big fish to be gotten. It now looks like the ATF set about creating one. Or more. Equally damning, the ATF knew that Bureau-enabled guns were going awry a lot earlier than previously admitted . . .

***snip***

The latimes.com mentions the fact that Steward was a convicted felon in passing. But that little factoid is yet more evidence that the FBI was in on Operation Fast & Furious, and not in a good way. The Agency had to game their instant background check system to let Steward’s purchases go through.

Common sense suggests that Steward knew the FBI and ATF knew that he was buying guns illegally. A convicted felon doesn’t expect to walk into a gun store and walk out with 290 firearms. If so, why the jail time? If not, why didn’t the ATF yank his chain earlier? Clearly, his tail was loose, at best. ...emphasis added
http://thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/09/robert-farago/atf-death-watch-89-40-fast-and-furious-firearms-found-in-el-pas/

Some info on the NICS:

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System

Brady Act Requirements

Mandated by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Brady Act) of 1993, Public Law 103-159, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) was established for Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) to contact by telephone, or other electronic means, for information to be supplied immediately on whether the transfer of a firearm would be in violation of Section 922 (g) or (n) of Title 18, United States Code, or state law. The Brady Act is a public record and is available from many sources including the Internet at www.atf.gov.

***snip***

The NICS is a national system that checks available records on persons who may be disqualified from receiving firearms. The FBI developed the system through a cooperative effort with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and local and state law enforcement agencies. The NICS is a computerized background check system designed to respond within 30 seconds on most background check inquiries so the FFLs receive an almost immediate response. Depending on the willingness of state governments to act as a liaison for the NICS, the FFLs contact either the FBI or a designated state Point of Contact (POC) to initiate background checks on individuals purchasing or redeeming firearms. The background check process, as performed by the FBI and by state POCs, is described below.

The NICS Section

Located at the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division in Clarksburg, West Virginia, the NICS Section processes background checks for the FFLs in those states that have declined to serve as POCs for the NICS. The FFLs conducting business in these states will contact the NICS either by telephone, via one of the contracted call centers, or electronically by the NICS E-Check via the Internet. The FFLs will provide the descriptive information requested on the ATF Form 4473, which is required by law to be completed and signed by every prospective firearm transferee. The FFL will receive a response that the transfer may proceed or is delayed. This response is typically provided within 30 seconds.

If no matching records are returned by any of the databases, the transaction is automatically proceeded. If the NICS returns a match of the prospective firearm transferee’s descriptive information to that of record information located in any of the databases, the FFL is advised that the transaction is delayed. While the FFL is still on the telephone, the call is placed on hold and transferred to the NICS Section in Clarksburg, West Virginia, for a quick review and evaluation by a NICS Legal Instruments Examiner (NICS Examiner). If the record information returned by the NICS presents a valid match to the descriptive information of the prospective firearm transferee, the NICS Examiners, who have access to protected information (as opposed to Call Center personnel who do not have such access) review the information to determine if state and/or federal firearm prohibitive criteria exists. If the information matched by the NICS is not a valid match or no prohibitive criteria exists, the NICS Examiner will advise the FFL they may PROCEED with the firearm transaction. The FFL must record the NICS Transaction Number (NTN) on line 21b of the ATF Form 4473 and retain the form for auditing purposes.
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/nics/general-information/fact-sheet

[X_Digger]

7. They jury-rigged NICS. Ongoing investigation, don'cha know. n/t

[spin]

8. Yup. I also know that for some reason the investigation is not getting a lot of ...

cooperation from the administration, especially the Justice Department. There does seem to be some evidence of a cover up.

[one-eyed fat man]

10. Who needs a 4473.....

....when you have a letter signed by the ATF Group Supervisor?

Even a nice notation that they guns were picked up on 10 June and paid for in cash.