“Essentially, the theory of the United States government in waging its ‘war on drugs’ has been and continues to be that the ‘end justifies the means’ and that it is more important to receive information about rival drug cartels’ activities from the Sinaloa Cartel in return for being allowed to continue their criminal activities, including and not limited to their smuggling of tons of illegal narcotics into the United States.” And there you have it. Confirmation [via narcosphere.narconews.com] that the U.S. government is in bed with Mexico’s favorite drug cartel. In recently filed court pleadings [click here], former Sinaloa Cartel jefe Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla doesn’t just imply that the ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious relied on this cooperation. He states it straight out . . .
This [agreement between the U.S. government and the Sinaloa Cartel] is confirmed by recent disclosures by the Congressional Committee’s investigation of the latest Department of Justice, DEA, FBI, and ATF’s “war on drugs” operation known as “Fast & Furious . . .”
It is clear that some of the weapons were deliberately allowed by the FBI and other government representatives to end up in the hands of the Sinaloa Cartel and that among the people killed by those weapons were law enforcement officers.
Mr. Zambada Niebla believes that the documentation that he requests [from the US government] will confirm that the weapons received by Sinaloa Cartel members and its leaders in Operation ‘Fast & Furious’ were provided under the agreement entered into between the United States government and [Chapo Guzman confidante] Mr. Loya Castro on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel that is the subject of his [Zambada Niebla’s] defense [regarding] public authority.”
Given its source, previous info and common sense, I’m not taking Jesus’s claim at face value. The Sinaloas needed [relatively] expensive guns smuggled from Bob’s Gun Store like a Drug Lord needs to take out a car loan. The cartel has unlimited access to firearms (including fully automatic rifles and grenades) from its friends in the Mexican military and law enforcement.
But I do believe that America’s “look the other way” policy towards the Sinaloas enabled the ATF to enable straw purchasers to smuggle guns from the U.S. to Mexico. In other words, none of the ATF-enabled guns were intercepted at the border because all the other federal agencies understood the ground rules. Anything to do with the Sinaloas gets a free pass. Period.
Niebla’s pleadings put the ATF’s ops into their proper perspective:
Director Melson confirms what Mr. Zambada-Niebla is asserting in the matter before this Court; i.e. that the United States government at its highest levels entered into agreements with cartel leaders to act as informants against rival cartels and received benefits in return, including, but not limited to, access to thousands of weapons which helped them continue their business of smuggling drugs into Chicago and throughout the United States, and to continue wreaking havoc on the citizens and law enforcement in Mexico. It is clear that some of the weapons were deliberately allowed by the FBI and other government representatives to end up in the hands of the Sinaloa Cartel and that among the people killed by those weapons were law enforcement officers.
As we’ve said previously, this is one ballsy play. It makes Niebla an enemy of the Sinaloa Cartel and all the various agencies of the U.S. government implicated in the Gunwalker scandal (ATF, DEA, FBI, DHS, ICE, CPB, IRS, State Department and White House). Including, get this, the CIA.
The other possibility, the former DEA agent adds, is that Zambada Niebla was tricked on an even deeper level, and was, in fact, not dealing with US law enforcement agencies, but rather a CIA intelligence operation.
“This would not be the first time CIA has used an informant and led them to believe it was an FBI, ICE or DEA operation,” the DEA source said.
If [the U.S. government assured Niebla that his crimes would be exempt from U.S. law in exchange for providing information], the former DEA agent [says] Zambada Niebla’s case is sunk, since even if documents and other evidence exist to prove his allegations of US government complicity, that evidence would almost certainly be deep-sixed under claims of national security that would be invoked by that very same US government.
The investigation into the ATF’s Gunwalker scandal needs to broaden to include a close look into U.S. law enforcement policy towards Mexican drug smuggling. It’s time for America’s full complicity in the drug trade—including arming Mexican drug cartels—to see the cruel light of day.
Bringing this back to the ATF, it’s increasingly clear that the Agency was sucking-up taxpayer money to fight gun smuggling. By smuggling guns to American-supported narco-terrorists. How fucked-up is that?
When it benefits the Mexican economy via remittance, from illegal immigration or the drug trade, they can care less about border security.
Mexico actually vocally supports illegal immigration going as far as handing out “How To” pamphlets for sneaking across the border safely.
The US, through a lack of political will power, and investment in real border security, also supports illegal immigration.
Now that Mexico wants to cut off the flow of something comming from the North, they cry foul and complain about the potential involvement of the US government into regional affairs on the border.
Mexico should go pound sand. Hypocrites at best. Incompetent corrupt criminals at worst.
I think you’re missing the point . . .
No, I get that the intent is to inform us about how the US is more complicit in the smuggling of drugs and guns across the border, then they would have us believe.
The only point I was making, was that this is all part of a larger issue involving border security, and that Mexico has been complicit for a VERY long time with the general lack of lawlessness to include human smuggling and drug smuggling for years.
The only reason they care about it, relatively recently, is because of how violent the gun gangs have grown, how much authority they are losing to the cartels, and revenue from tourism.
The Mexican and US governments have worked HARD to make a border that pourous. They are going to have to work twice as hard to lock it down, now that it actually suits their current interests.
But I do concur that the part our government plays, in allowing guns and drugs in and out of our country in this particular case will only feed the growing number of revelations that the CIA has played, and continues to play a big role in narcotics trafficing in general.
The big Jefes of the cartels don’t need no stinkin’ guns from Bobs. However, I do believe the rank and file (and I do mean rank) street level operators would be very happy with a nice AR as a Dia de los Muertos gift.
ATF’s motto is “Non Arma Americanis et Zetas,” and they really mean it.
The gears in the graphic for this entry looks like it would work about as well as the War On Drugs has worked in real life. When people flush with enough drug money to buy any weapon they want, who live a high risk lifestyle and cannot go to police to settle disputes, this is what happens.
There’s a lot of money to be made on both sides of the War on Drugs. The Free Market has apparently been speaking for a while now!
The illegal drug market is probably the largest source of liquid capital in the world. Illegal arms may or may not be bigger. I’d say drugs are probably the largest, but it’s been awhile since I checked.
Massive amounts of this money is laundered through American corporations and businesses large and small in most nations. The United States, however, is obviously the leader as it has the largest economy. Hence the money from illegal drugs becomes incredibly helpful to the economy at large.
It’s no surprise that drugs are still illegal despite the fact that this very illegality is driving the prices, and therefor the violence and general nastiness, up. I really wish there was an accurate means to compare the monetary and social toll drugs took on the society back when they were for all intensive purposes legal, and the toll they take now. I would not be surprised at all if they took less a toll when they were legal. Simply look at the toll alcohol took during it’s period of illegality.
The US Government has been complicite in the drug trade for decades and across all political party boundries. It happened in Vietnam. It happened in Afghanistan. It happened in Central America. It happened in Afghanistan again and continues to happen now.
“[T]he Agency was sucking-up taxpayer money to fight gun smuggling. By smuggling guns to American-supported narco-terrorists. How [FU] is that?”
There is no contradiction here. The goal is to further the state’s power and control. To achieve this end requires creating a crisis that can be exploited politically. “Never let a crisis go to waste.” ;^)
Consider that the NAZIs burned down the Reichstag and accused a communist of starting the fire. Then they used the ensuing chaos and confusion to further the National Socialist agenda and successfully consolidated power in the person of Der Fuehrer.
The ATF/DEA/FBI/ICE gunwalking scheme was designed to foment as much murder and mayhem as possible and use the resultant confusion for a smoke screen to further the antigun agenda. This will be achieved through repeal of the Tiahrt Amendment to the Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986. This amendment forbids creation of a centralized firearms database that could be used as a tool to disarm the civilian population.
Take note of Media Matters recent putsch (sic) to centralize trace data and the picture is drawn into sharp focus.
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