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Report: Mexican Cartel Members Obtained Weapons From Border Patrol

Nov. 9, 2012 4:22pm Madeleine Morgenstern

This Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011 picture shows part of a cache of seized weapons displayed at an ATF news conference in Phoenix. (AP)

A Mexican cartel hitman turned protected government informant has reportedly testified that cartel members acquired weapons from the U.S. Border Patrol for a series of battles to drive rival gangsters from their territory.

The Nov. 7 report in the Mexican investigative magazine Contralinea provided no real specifics from the witness, “Victoria,” about how the arms — said to be AK-47-type assault weapons — were allegedly obtained.

From Wired magazine’s Danger Room, based off the Spanish-language Contralinea report:

The testimony of a Mexican hitman turned government witness has revealed some astonishing details of life inside Mexico’s criminal underworld. Most astonishing of all: claims that cartel assassins obtained guns from the U.S. Border Patrol.

[...]

“Victoria” first joined a Sinaloa Cartel enforcer group called Gente Nueva, or New People, in 2009. Within Gente Nueva, the witness worked for smaller group called the Javelins. Their job, over 2009 and 2010, was to eliminate groups of rival Zetas and Beltran Leyva Organization members that had seized Sinaloa Cartel turf in Mexico’s desert west. The enforcers moved by convoy, ranging from 20 to 80 trucks and SUVs with five or six gunmen in each, and fought a series of pitched battles over control of the area’s “plazas,” or hubs for moving cocaine and marijuana.

“The instruction was to kill them all,” the witness said.

[...]

The Javelins’ leader, Jose Vazquez or “Wild Boar” also seems to have been in charge of a pretty sophisticated operation. The group fielded escort teams for carrying weapons shipments and controlling drug trafficking routes, and teams of 12 for smuggling marijuana across the border. Cocaine was flown in from southern Mexico before being smuggled. They even had one command-and-control station for monitoring cameras placed along key highways.

Underneath Vazquez, according to the witness, was a deputy in Tucson in charge of smuggling weapons from the United States. Another deputy in Mexico was in charge of receiving the weapons. There was a deputy tasked with “cooptation of [Mexican] authorities” on the local, state and federal levels. Vazquez also had an accountant responsible for “organizing the logistics of fighting with other cartels,” paying for weapons including those allegedly obtained from the Border Patrol, and managing salaries. (The witness had a salary of $6,000 per month.)

As Wired noted, we don’t know whether the witness is telling the truth. Still, the claim has the potential to relight the controversy over Fast and Furious, the flawed gun-tracking operation that led to the murder of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately return a request for comment from TheBlaze, though a spokesperson told Wired the agency was looking into the claim.

Attorney General Eric Holder, who has come under congressional scrutiny over the Justice Department’s role in Fast and Furious, said Thursday he was unsure about whether he would stay on for President Barack Obama’s second term.

(h/t Wired)

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

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Comments (63)

AmericaMustBeFree
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 9:39pm
Its taken them this long to concoct this story! Always lies from this administration!

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- Maji
  Posted on November 10, 2012 at 12:32am
  This Obama’s people….anything is possible!
  Look what he did in bengahzi, do you think he has limits??
  
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- rickc34
  Posted on November 10, 2012 at 1:32pm
  Obama what a long nose you have…
  
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ThoreauHD
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 8:28pm
Sorry, but this guy has no credibility. Nice try though. Next we’ll hear of a federally encarcerated pimp from Mexico City say he bought weapons from Allen West.

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- AbrahamsSheepdog
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 3:00am
  Yeah he loves us. Hes not like everyone says or sees. He had good intention till he had to be a man. Sneaky with dictators who use him like a teenager. And now he owes them too.
  
  Report this comment
Metallicat
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 7:52pm
I dont buy this story, I think this is a patsy for the Obama administration bailing them out of F&F. Theyll lay the blame for any american guns found among the cartels on the border patrol and not connected to the ATF gun walking program. Since when does the US government supply our border patrol with AK-47s? Theyll use the Border Patrol to take the fall since thats where the whistle blowers came from,which will cause a crack down on any of that happening again.

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- Metallicat
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 8:14pm
  If anything the ATF agents involved were disguising themselves as Border Patrol to make movement along the border easier.
  
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- rickc34
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 9:26pm
  hey border patrol did you feel that? Did ya….that was Obama running you over with his Canadian Bus.
  
  Report this comment
- Wolf
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 10:00pm
  Absolutely rediculous concoction. Only complete morons with no understanding of weapons would believe this kind of BS. The drug cartels would hardly accept semi-auto weapons from ‘border patrol’ agents to use in a ‘war’ with rival gangs. Unless they wanted to commit suicide.
  
  Report this comment
Wraith523
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 7:45pm
If any of you personally know a Border Patrol Agent, and listen to them talk about Love of Country, you would be ashamed of yourselves throwing them under the bus this way. They aren’t the ATF or FBI and most of them don’t even like the previously mentioned agencies. 95% of them are huge constitutionalist, and the other 5% are too apothetic to cause you any grief. Give them a break, and leave Brian Terry out of this, he was an honorable man and so were the men with him that night. HONOR FIRST!

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Rickfromillinois
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 7:36pm
It’s obvious that we need stricter gun controls aimed at our citizens to help prevent law enforcement from selling them to criminals……….Of course that would mean that only criminals and law enforcement had firearms but law enforcement members would protect us from the armed criminals……..but law enforcement were the ones sold the guns to criminals…..I’m sure that if I were a liberal it would all make sense to me.

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- scout n ambush
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 7:49pm
  They don’t make a pill that could help
  
  Report this comment
- Mustanger
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 9:00pm
  And all that you said would make perfect sense if you would up your medicinal/recreational marijuana intake. Do you see the back door 2nd amendment assault? If you have a MM card, no gun ownership. Which I agree with. But…more and more laws come with the felony tag. It may get to the point where jay walking is a felony. No voting…
  
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IHCm1Garand
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 6:56pm
Can someone explain something to me. Why would the cartels buy the neutered semi-automatic versions of the AK47 in America with a paper trail when for about the same price or less, they could buy the full automatic versions that would basically be untraceable.

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- Marci
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 7:15pm
  I wish Wired (and other news outlets) would quit referring to this as a “flawed operation”. It wasn’t flawed. It worked exactly like they wanted it to. The only flaw was getting caught.
  
  Report this comment
- scout n ambush
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 7:28pm
  The only way I can see is If you made a semi-auto free compared to a full- auto for $100 yes they would take them .And i don’t put a thing past these people they might have even used Border Patrol uniforms for cover in case anybody saw them it would be nothing unusual to see BP agents out there
  
  Report this comment
repairsea
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 6:20pm
We already know that and our Congress did nothing. BTW – The governments unions state you have a right to incompetent. And if you work for state or fed agencies, you may have access to SSN, addresses, and license plates, etc. Background checks are ignored or not required when you work for agencies. Some of these perverts know where you grandmother live. I have tried to fight this in CA and have been ignored time and time again. I reported one guy who had multiple domestic violence cases, violence against a co-worker and statutory rape sentence who had access to the DMV records. Nothing was done to him.

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MeanGreen
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 5:47pm
I call complete and total B.S. on this story. I know several people in the Border Patrol, and this would be as unthinkable to them as a soldier giving an AK47 to Al-Qaeda.

“paying for weapons including those allegedly obtained from the Border Patrol” ??!!!… that doesn’t even make any sense. What were the Agents doing, throwing duffel bags of guns over the fence, for cartels to shoot them with? Pfffttt.. Yeah right, Total Baloney!!

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- Wraith523
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 7:09pm
  meangreen, you are absolutely right!! I too know many Border Patrol Agents……I love Glenn Beck, but this is complete crap. The Green would die a horrible death before giving Cartels guns. Your analogy of giving weapons to terrorists is spot on!
  
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- Lt_Scrounge
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 7:25pm
  While I would normally agree with you MeanGreen, there have been a LOT of cases of corruption popping up in the agents in the southern Arizona region lately. They see how little their superiors care for their health and welfare and become easy targets for cartel bribery.
  
  Report this comment
Larry E
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 5:36pm
So where did the Border Patrol get all the AK’s? I mean just asking a question here, but this whole thing smells as bad as an old fish market. Gotta get that UN small arms treaty passed ASAP, and get all those nasty “assault weapons” banned and collected by the government and/or UN.

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- Metallicat
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 7:57pm
  That stumps me too. I wasnt aware that the US government supplies our agencies with AKs. I thought the M4 was the standard now. I could see them having excess quantities of those on hand.
  
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- carlospicywenr
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 9:43pm
  Our government buys weapons cheap from where ever they need to buy them from, most of those are newer models, a design from a German AK model, so the question is, who paid for them and where did they get them? I want a couple for myself. Who authorizes border patrol to sell weapons illegally? We all have to fill out FBI and ATF paperwork when we buy any firearm in the States from any licensed dealer. Obama stated 2 years ago most of the guns in mexico are from the U.S., but those AK’s aren’t made in the U.S., and he wants to make sure he wasn’t lying too
  
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Rational Man
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 5:34pm
Boy! The nuts sure gravitated to this article!
I’m out’a here!

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EqualJustice
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 5:20pm
Wait until we have totally OPEN borders. That should be fun. Wonder how they are keeping the “terrorists” out anyway?

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Joe_The_Patriot
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 5:17pm
Obama will give guns to criminals and our enemies, The muslim brotherhood, Cartels, Syria, Libya, and who knows how many others… BUT they want to take away our 2nd amendment rights.. NO WAY!!! we’re gonna need all the guns we can get and I’m afraid it’s going to be in the near future..
keep your powder dry !!

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Ilikepeople
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 5:16pm
That’s right, Baby Boomers are only capable of destruction. You destroyed your children; you destroyed the economy; to destroyed the Nations currency; you destroyed the U.S future; you destroyed the medical system, and you’re going to destroy the world.

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- Ilikepeople
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 5:31pm
  Anyone born after WW1 is a Baby boomer in truth is a baby boomer. And you are destroying and eating everything there is. But don’t take my word for it when you can just look at the state of the nation.
  
  Report this comment
- Anonymous T. Irrelevant
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 5:48pm
  Tim, your doctor said to take your medication DAILY, not weekly.
  
  Report this comment
Bobby D
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:59pm
Not to worry. This crap will end when the ILLEGAL POTUS grants amNASTY to the hoards, and opens the borders to all of Satan minions.

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The-Monk
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:49pm
And when Brian Terry was going to whistle-blow…….

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Delores at CH WV
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:49pm
It is time for indictments from Congress. These people in the goverment and out of the government need to go to trial ASAP so that our government can’t fix the job situation and stop spending money that we do not have!!!!! No wonder the President is leaving the country. He did this last year. Why is he traveling; did he forget NYC, NJ, WV, and etc.

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- Anonymous T. Irrelevant
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 5:51pm
  ” Why is he traveling; did he forget NYC, NJ, WV, and etc.”
  =========================================
  No, he just only cares about himself. The rest of the little people can go pound sand. Hasn’t he already proven that to you the FIRST four years?
  
  Report this comment
AJAYW
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:41pm
sounds good

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- TheTruthLovesLight
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:54pm
  We complain about the media not reporting stories like this.
  
  Why not take a page from the history books and follow the example of Thomas Paine and use the pamphlet idea of common sense to reach the masses.
  
  Every two weeks employers could download a 1 page cliff note version of the news everyone should be aware of and they could include it with the paychecks to their employees.
  
  We have to start thinking outside the box if we are going to take our country back.
  
  Email the editor of the blaze with this idea and if enough of us do maybe theblaze will make it happen.
  
  Scott Baker Editor of the blaze sbaker@theblaze.com
  
  Report this comment
- ANTISOCIAL-IST
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 6:21pm
  @truth: love the optimism but pamphlets ain’t gonna do it. we are way too far gone.
  
  Report this comment
karenm
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:41pm
Maybe we can all do gas rationing soon like New York. Did you read on Drudge that Obama shut down oil drilling in the west? Here is the link:

Interior proposal would block oil shale development on federal lands in West – The Hill’s E2-Wire http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/267095-interior-proposes-shielding-federal-lands-in-west-from-drilling

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JUSTANOTHEROPINION
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:40pm
You can run Mr.Holder, but you can not hide.

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- Gonzo
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 5:41pm
  Who is going to make him face justice? Sure, God will eventually, but if you’re waiting for the Republicans to do it, it’s not going to happen.
  
  Report this comment
- Anonymous T. Irrelevant
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 5:54pm
  I have given up writing ANY Congressman. I have NEVER received a reply for four flippin’ years. The only reply I have received was a form letter from my Senator Rob Portman. I have a new Congressman, maybe I will get some action out of him?
  
  Report this comment
Carrie3570
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:36pm
Wow! There is so much good news today I just don’t even know what to think anymore!

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Ilikepeople
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:33pm
Oh I’m simply stunned. Baby Boomers destroying America. Remember this Baby Boomers: you were born of destruction, and destruction is all you know.
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Rational Man
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:33pm
I won’t believe this story until a Border Patrol Agent confesses.
Until then, it is all horse apples to me.
Why would I give my enemy combatants guns??
Please say that my confidence in the integrity and intelligence of the Border Patrol is not misplaced.

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- marybethelizabeth
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:40pm
  Why would I give my enemy combatants guns??
  
  Money.
  
  Report this comment
- johnpaulkuchtajr
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:48pm
  Come on rational man,
  
  When your ultimate goal is chaos along the Mexican border, you make sure that the bad guys have enough weaponry to make that chaos happen.
  
  What do you think will happen when the shooting starts in the Middle East? All those weapons will be in the hands of cartel members led by members of the Iranian special forces. Shopping malls and middle schools in TX and AZ are SUCH soft targets.
  
  Four pieces of advice from me: food, water guns and (plenty) ammo.
  
  Report this comment
- Rational Man
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 5:23pm
  Sorry that neither of you seem to get it. We’re talking about the guys on the ground fighting the immigration war. The Border Patrol, not the ATF desk jockeys in the F&F scandal. Basically a soldier. What soldier gives his enemy combatant guns to kill him with? I won’t believe this story until it is proven. They deserve the benefit of the doubt until then.
  
  Report this comment
- Anonymous T. Irrelevant
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 5:57pm
  HAIRYBETHSNIFFINMETH
  That’s a good question for YOUR president and his AG, who he protected from answering that question with an Executive Order. Ask them, not us.
  
  Report this comment
WiredRight
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:33pm
Move along folks… Nothing to see here. LOOK it’s Snooki!

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Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:30pm
Zzzzzzzzzz….huh? Wake me up when the government ever CAN’T do whatever it wants with total impunity.

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- marybethelizabeth
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:39pm
  Border patrol agents have plenty of opportunities to supplement their income. There have been a few convictions.
  
  You Beckian minions won’t like hearing this but I heard a caller on Roger Hedgecock’s radio program say that Ramos and Campeon were involved in illicit activity and that might have been the reason that a Mexican national was shot and their attempt to hide the shooting.
  
  Report this comment
- searcher619
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:52pm
  The cartels have sent their own people into this country to infiltrate border patrol.
  
  Report this comment
- Rational Man
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 5:29pm
  @marybethelizabeth
  
  You make fun of “Beckians” and then turn around and refer to some anonymous phone-in caller conspiracy on a radio show……Your a doofus!
  
  Report this comment
Cavallo
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:28pm
So? And who will do anything about it? Issa might make a few noises, but we have already seen that the Administration can ignore Congressional Committees with impunity. Is it even worth the energy to care?

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- joeslick
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:36pm
  The media will cover the demos sorry a$$e$ or just ignore it and it will go away…just like everything else with those POS’s. There will be a bounty on this news media one day.
  
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- moreteaplease
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 4:38pm
  They have pretty much proven that they are all bark and no bite. I get the impression that congressional hearings are just show for the public’s benefit and not much else.
  
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- ANTISOCIAL-IST
  Posted on November 9, 2012 at 6:28pm
  @joe: i would imagine there’s a list out there.
  
  nsa, fbi: just speculating, of course.
  
  Report this comment

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