Tuesday, March 1, 2011

So now we have our answer & a followup question: Was another Project Gunwalker scandal firearm used to kill ANOTHER U.S. federal agent?

ICE agent Jaime Zapata, killed with a U.S. sourced semi-auto Kalashnikov -- JUST LIKE BRIAN TERRY.

Now we know what all the excitement was about yesterday in the Dallas area. And now we have another question. Just how big WAS the Project Gunwalker Scandal?

Gun Used to Kill ICE Agent in Mexico Traced to Dallas, U.S. Investigators Say

The gun used to kill a U.S. immigration agent in Mexico has been traced to a man in Texas, who was arrested with two others suspected of gun smuggling, sources confirm to Fox News.

The ATF made the arrests in connection with a Feb. 15 shooting of two federal agents who were driving on a highway near the northern Mexico city of San Luis Potosi. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata was killed and agent Victor Avila was wounded.

The gun was traced to a Dallas-area man, Otilio Osorio, allegedly part of a crime group that assists cartels by illegally selling them guns from the U.S,, one law enforcement source told Fox News, though it is unclear whether the Texas man knew what the gun would be used for.

The three men arrested in the Dallas suburb of Lancaster -- including Ranferi Osorio and Kelvin Morrison -- allegedly bought the guns in the U.S., scratched off the serial numbers and sent them to cartels in Mexico.


3 Arrested in ATF Raid in Lancaster: MyFoxDFW.com

9 comments:

Dennis308 said...

Jaime was from Brownsville and people say he was good guy from a fine family.......

If someone can link the gun to "Gun-Walker" I could use that information to motivate the local Congress Critter.......

Dennis
III
Texas

PS I posted be for but received a
"ERROR 503" so I re-posted.

Anonymous said...

Grassley needs to get the trace data on this gun as well.

Anonymous said...

Lemme get this straight - they traced the guns - conclusively - with the scratched off serial numbers...
Were the numbers removed before or AFTER they were confiscated?
Get ready for some classic ATF doublespeak here - guns were CONCLUSIVELY traced to US gun shop, but any association with Gunrunner/walker is INCONCLUSIVE, since the serial numbers are gone.
Bet the farm the judge lets 'em get away with it, too.

III N TN

Chris Vaughn said...

Somehow I believe that the ATF is *positive* that this gun never passed through their grimy paws; that explains the swift press release and comprehensive media coverage of this particular "Gun from US found in Mexico."

Anonymous said...

@ Chris Vaughn.....Exactly what I was thinking.

See everyone? This bust shows how we have to stop all these guns from going down south of the border! And since ATF didn't walk this one (supposedly) it's proof positive that there's a HUGE problem with US guns going down to Mexican drug cartels! The ATF needs to be commended for the fine job they are doing and they need to have their budget increased!

Sincerely,
Chicken Little.

Anonymous said...

Serial numbers stamped into the receiver leave a stress pattern in the metal that can be visualized with the right optical equipment, even if milled off, as long as the milling isn't too deep (which would ruin the strength of that side). Merely scratching the numbers off does no good at all. It's still traceable.
-JRM III

Anonymous said...

So the weapon that killed agent Zapata was recovered and tested in what 3 weeks? Out of how many weapons that were found in Mexico in that time period? Yet no charges have been filed in agent Terry death?
Something smells.

Anonymous said...

"Merely scratching the numbers off does no good at all. It's still traceable."

Supposedly Vietnam-era spec-ops groups operating in deniable areas had the serial numbers cut out of the receivers of their M-16's.

It didn't cause issues with the weapon since the lower on the M-16 isn't a pressure bearing area. And I'm sure the armorers did a good job of cleaning out the hole and testing the weapons prior to them being lost...

And for those that said "why didn't they use AK's?", I think Mike posted a story about how SOG was spiking AK ammo and leaving it for the enemy to be found.

It sucks to shoot a rifle with a cartridge that had the gunpowder replaced with a high-explosive compound, and 5.56 ammo didn't have that issue, even if you captured it from the enemy.

Anonymous said...

Kudos to the ATF for a job well done, however this is only done in response to the scandle of project gunrunner (aka:gunwalker)

The real question is how many Mexican citizens and Mexican Law enformrcment officers have been killed by allowing guns to walk in to Mexico under the direction of the Phoenix SAC and ASAC?