An investigation by a major Mexican newspaper, El Universal, has concluded that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency entered into agreements-dating back to 2000 and continuing through 2012-with Mexico’s largest drug trafficking gang, the Sinaloa Cartel...
The El Universal report is based not only on interviews with DEA and cartel members-some currently incarcerated in Mexican jails-but additionally based on the above-referenced court filings in the U.S. District Court.
A complete recounting of the alleged agreements can be found in the Memorandum of Law In Support Of Motion For Discovery Regarding Defense Of Public Authority filed on behalf of Zambada-Niebla in an effort to get his hands on depositions and additional discovery items that were not turned over to him by the government...
The allegation that guns were part of a deal between the U.S. and the Sinaloa traffickers has been suggested before. The Blaze reported on this back in August of 2012-
“Zambada-Niebla claims that under a “divide and conquer” strategy, the U.S. helped finance and arm the Sinaloa Cartel through Operation Fast and Furious in exchange for information that allowed the DEA, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies to take down rival drug cartels. The Sinaloa Cartel was allegedly permitted to traffic massive amounts of drugs across the U.S. border from 2004 to 2009 - during both Fast and Furious and Bush-era gunrunning operations - as long as the intel kept coming.”
If true–and the well researched El Universal report certainly gives credence to The Blaze’s earlier reporting-it may be that Operation Fast and Furious was not about a strategy to release guns into Mexico so they could be tracked to drug traffickers, but rather all about using the weapons-as part of the deal with the Sinaloa cartel-to kill soldiers of drug traffickers we wanted off the streets and out of business.
Interestingly, this might just make Americans feel better about Operation Fast and Furious.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickung...ween-the-dea-and-mexicos-sinaloa-drug-cartel/
The El Universal report is based not only on interviews with DEA and cartel members-some currently incarcerated in Mexican jails-but additionally based on the above-referenced court filings in the U.S. District Court.
A complete recounting of the alleged agreements can be found in the Memorandum of Law In Support Of Motion For Discovery Regarding Defense Of Public Authority filed on behalf of Zambada-Niebla in an effort to get his hands on depositions and additional discovery items that were not turned over to him by the government...
The allegation that guns were part of a deal between the U.S. and the Sinaloa traffickers has been suggested before. The Blaze reported on this back in August of 2012-
“Zambada-Niebla claims that under a “divide and conquer” strategy, the U.S. helped finance and arm the Sinaloa Cartel through Operation Fast and Furious in exchange for information that allowed the DEA, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies to take down rival drug cartels. The Sinaloa Cartel was allegedly permitted to traffic massive amounts of drugs across the U.S. border from 2004 to 2009 - during both Fast and Furious and Bush-era gunrunning operations - as long as the intel kept coming.”
If true–and the well researched El Universal report certainly gives credence to The Blaze’s earlier reporting-it may be that Operation Fast and Furious was not about a strategy to release guns into Mexico so they could be tracked to drug traffickers, but rather all about using the weapons-as part of the deal with the Sinaloa cartel-to kill soldiers of drug traffickers we wanted off the streets and out of business.
Interestingly, this might just make Americans feel better about Operation Fast and Furious.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickung...ween-the-dea-and-mexicos-sinaloa-drug-cartel/
