Houston gun smuggling case

This graphic from today's New York Times. (click for larger image). Here is the story.

Pen and Pad with Napolitano

In a recent pen and pad secession with DHS Chief Janet Napolitano, a journalist asked a very good question:

Is that part of the problem, Madam Secretary, that the Mexico portfolio, you know, touches on so many agencies? Is the Administration at all thinking about housing them all, you know, particularly, you know, security, so that it’s not State and Department of Justice and Homeland Security but sort of creating a Mexico Security Czar?

This is entirely true. We have the DHS coming in with CBP and ICE. There is the DOJ with the DEA, the FBI, and the ATF. There is the DOS, which runs the Merida Initiative, and there is the White House - where an number of Obama-backed initiatives are born and passed along to others to implement.

Her answer:

You know, I don’t know about that. I mean a lot of the issues I deal with involve many agencies. I mean that’s just the problems of today don’t really match up with government, you know, organizations of — that we have in a way. They — they — and so one of my tasks is to be able to work with my colleagues on the Cabinet, with the White House, and with others and to recognize, you know, there are things Homeland Security will be doing, there are things that are going to impact the Department of State, impact DOJ and so forth, and that’s — that’s — you know, that — that’s the effort that’s going on now, is to make sure that we all know what each other is doing and are speaking with a consistent voice.

But — but if I had to sum up where we are, it’s that this issue’s getting top attention in multiple departments of the U.S., that planning is well underway and that we are having extensive discussions with our federal colleagues within Mexico and it is really focused on assisting the Mexican Government with their fight against the cartels. One facet of that assistance is looking at what we can do to stop cash and guns, and you guys didn’t ask me about cash which is kind of interesting, from going south.

One aspect of it is supporting our state and local law enforcement along the border and being ever prepared to respond with more resources should we see spill-over violence in the way I described it to you occurring...

I don't think a Mexican Drug Czar is the answer, but we can certainly make sure that the lines separating different agencies stay in place.

Operation Armas Cruzadas, the anti-gun smuggling program operated by ICE, is a good example. ICE agents are not arms experts. They are not well equipped to build a solid case against errant arms dealers, and they don't have the local knowledge (in places like Arizona and Texas) where most arms are legally purchased before slipping into the gray market.

With the exception of the X Caliber case (see below post), which was a fluke, the ATF has long demonstrated expertise when combatting gun smuggling. When ICE comes in with its own arms smuggling operation, it muddies the waters, creates conflict on the ground among agents, and further complicates the mission. This is just one example. Moving forward, I would argue that the one item that will most quickly deep six our efforts to control the border, to stop arms and cash from moving south, and to stop drugs from coming north, will be our inability to manage one large communications nightmare between so many agencies.

S*#t Hit the Fan

On 18 March, a judge dismissed the charges against a Phoenix gun dealer accused of helping move weapons south to Mexico to arm the drug trafficking organizations.

Details are here and here.

I blurred the edges of the photo to cover identification tags on the weapons.

I was in the ATF office in Phoenix on Monday, and some of the guys were talking about testifying later in the week. The trial was big news with these guys, and many of them had worked hard to bring this errant gun dealer to justice. From what I read and heard off the record, I was convinced that the prosecutor had an airtight case. Then a judge throws the case out because there was not enough evidence to lead to a conviction. This is a shot in the gut for the ATF and the US government. Even when a solid case is presented in court, these guys still can't get a break. The case will go to appeal, but I'm not hopeful there will be an overturn on the judge's decision. We'll see.

The Locals of Douglas/Agua Prieta

Agua Prieta, Sonora - just across the border from Douglas, Az - is perhaps the only Mexican border town that hasn't seen astronomical violence.

Even in the next town over, in Naco, men find time to corner one another and spray pick ups with hundreds of bullets.

But not in Agua Prieta. This is a town where everyone knows the name "El Chapo" - the head of the so-called Sinaloa Cartel - and no one knows the name "Calderón" - the president of Mexico.

El Chapo keeps a strong grip on Agua Prieta, preventing all but what many consider a normal level of violence.

About a year and a half ago, there were a few days when local cops found bodies here and there, but that was soon over. It was more of a message to anyone even thinking about trying to take over Agua Prieta: just keep thinking.

The locals in Douglas don't know much about gun smuggling. And they don't know much about the violence that rages across Mexico. Many of them get on with their daily lives, interestingly unaware of what's going on just to the east in El Paso/Juarez, or to the west in Nogales.

There is one local, however, who knows more about gun smuggling across the Douglas border than anyone else. He owns the only gun store in town.

"I get five thousand dollar bribes every week," he told me yesterday as an opening statement to what turned out to be a 45 minute monologue on why he keeps to the law and how the guys at the ATF - Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms - won't leave him alone.

And with good reason. While staying well within the law, he can sell all the ammunition he wants to corrupt Mexican cops. Its such a large loophole that the ATF has asked him nicely not to sell to the Mexican cops.

Within the law, he can sell as many "long guns" as he wants. These are the so-called "weapons of choice" - the AR-15 variations and AK-47s.

About a year ago, he sold between five and ten long guns to a couple guys - nothing illegal about it - and some of the guns were used in Naco at a shoot out. When the guns traced back to his shop, the ATF agents on the case could only get the name and information of the men who bought the guns, but not the men who smuggled them across the border. This gray area - called the gray market - is where the legal trail ends, and the black market begins. Again, the gun dealer is just running a business.

If a guy comes into the store, obviously a gang banger or an otherwise sketchy individual, and wants to buy a gun, there's nothing the gun dealer can do if the guy checks out. Refusing a sale might get the gun dealer into trouble, especially if the customer wants to start talking about discrimination.

Back at the Border Mart, there is no talk of guns or drugs, really. People come and go, and "coyotes", known as "polleros" or chicken herders, often come in for a quick stop after a long day of smuggling people into the US.

Today, I'm heading back into Agua Prieta to learn more about how and why this town has managed through the recent trying times of violence, the economy, and a new feeling from the gringos who don't seem to want them any more.

Maybe I'll find someone who knows the president's name, not Obama (everyone knows him) but Calderón.

Hiding guns in a massive load...

In Tucson, I recently spoke with some of the men who work the trenches, fighting gun smuggling south, from Arizona to Mexico. On the road from Phoenix to Tucson, I pass three separate trucks that exemplified what they said was a nightmare for Border Patrol and a boon for smugglers. Feats of engineering and twine-supported balance and load capacity that astounds . Many BP agents will not stop these guys because it would take their whole shift just to unload and search these vehicles. Meanwhile, smugglers know that they can wrap up a few guns at the bottom, in the middle, and pass on through...

I took this photo just a few hours ago, southbound on I-10, headed to Tucson - about 4 hours away from the border.

Iron River (partially) Disrupted

Phoenix-based gun dealer George Iknadosian, will soon go on trial to defend allegations that he sold hundreds of weapons - mostly AK-47 - to Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel.

The complete NYT story is here.

I also prepared a piece some time ago, here.

I have various reactions to this news. First, this guy was not the Sinaloa cartel's only source of armament, but considering how fast this group goes through bullets and weapons, I must wonder how US efforts to break up gun smuggling networks will affect the battles raging between Mexico's DTOs.

Inside the US, the ATF and other investigative bodies do not target gun smugglers based on their cartel faction. They follow a lead, gather evidence, build their case, and present it to the US attorney's office before gathering arrest warrants and such.

But as this process picks up speed, and I know it will under this administration, it will be interesting to see how a constricted illegal gun flow to Mexico affects the DTOs operational readiness to defend turf and/or go on the offensive.

I'm no military man, but it seems logical that if you're lacking in bullets and guns, you're going to defend, not attack. And lately it has been a number of offensive strategies that have kept the murder numbers high - Mexico already broke 1,000 murders for 2009 by the way.

A second thought has to do with the Mexican military. Will this supposedly incorruptible force become more compromised over time as the DTOs focus their bribery power on the men and women who control the army's arm supplies?

We already know that the Mexican army faces a serious desertion rate, and those who leave the army and join the DTOs are in a perfect position to engage their friends who are still in the army with cash and requests for help with raiding arms depots. We'll see if that happens.

A final thought - and this is more related to my next blog post - the trial of Iknadosian will reveal just how organized and well greased these smuggling systems are. US citizens still do not appreciate how effective and well organized the Mexican organized criminal factions can be. They have been in place for decades, and only until recently, they've been flying below radar. This fact alone explains why there are so many mid- to low-level DTOs operatives in place in all 50 states. Some of them smuggle guns, but most of them work on the other side of this market - bringing products into the US and distributing them to a neighborhood near you.