Fast and Furious Gun Turns Up After Mexican Resort Shootout

[Jeff Dunsavage]

A dramatic shootout between authorities and suspected cartel gunmen at a Mexican seaside resort this month has ties to a botched U.S. gun operation. A U.S. official said Tuesday that investigators have traced at least one firearm recovered at a December 18 gunfight in Puerto Peñasco, across from the Arizona border, to Operation Fast and Furious.

That's the disastrous operation run by agents in the Phoenix office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Agents allowed suspected gun smugglers to buy about 2,000 firearms with the goal of trying to find and prosecute high-level traffickers. They couldn't track the firearms and most are believed to have ended up with cartels and gangsters in Mexico.

Many have turned up at crime scenes in Mexico and the United States, including at a shooting that killed a U.S. border agent in 2010.

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[KL]

This incident involved the targeted killing of Macho Prieto (MP) who was the top sicario (assassin) for the Sinaloa drug cartel. The news was discussed extensively on some forums that cover crime in Mexico. The exchange of fire between the Mexican Marines and the group of cartel gunmen included at least one 50-caliber weapon ... Probably a sniper rifle. The Mexican authorities used a helicopter-borne sniper as part of this action. Ironically, some tourists at the resort at Puetro Penasco filmed some of the action ... There is a video circulating. Most likely the death of MP was a carefully orchestrated event involving Mexican and US authorities, but as usual many rumors continue to circulate.
All the best, KL