Feds Bust Arizona Gun Sellers
The Arizona Republic reports:
Federal authorities announced charges today against 34 Arizonans accused of buying about 700 guns in gun stores in the state on behalf of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel.
The arrests and seizures are proof that Arizona has become an iron highway for guns headed south of the border, according to federal authorities, who say they don't know how many weapons are being smuggled into Mexico every day.
Dozens of AK-47s, and .50 caliber rifles were among the semi-automatic weapons legally purchased in single-day transactions at Arizona gun stores by straw buyers paid by the cartel, said U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke.
"This is a huge problem in this state. It is a strange phenomenon," Burke said at a press conference at a federal office in Phoenix, where guns similar to the types of those seized were laid out side by side on a table. "Drug cartels go shopping for their war weapons here in Arizona."
At least 17 people were arrested Tuesday in five cases involving a joint crackdown by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Internal Revenue Service and the Phoenix Police Department.
"Straw buyers have as much blood on their hands . . . as the ones who pull the trigger," said Bill Newell, special agent in charge of the Phoenix ATF.
All of those indicted are U.S. citizens or legal residents.
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