Drug cartel sending U.S. weapons to Mexico (attorney, purchase, military)

[mexguy]

EL PASO, Texas, July 13 (UPI) -- A Mexican drug cartel may be smuggling military-grade weapons through El Paso, Texas, and Columbus, N.M., into Mexico, a former intelligence officer said
Phil Jordan, a former CIA operative, told the El Paso Times that the Zetas drug organization might be planning to disrupt Mexico's 2012 elections or use the weapons to fight other cartels.
Jordan, who served as director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's El Paso Intelligence Center in 1995, said the Zetas have shipped large amounts of weapons purchased in the Dallas area through El Paso.
Robert "Tosh" Plumlee, a former CIA contract pilot, told the Times he supported Jordan's allegations, adding that the Zetas have reportedly bought property in the Columbus, N.M., border region to stash weapons and other contraband.
"From the intel, it appears that a company was set up in Mexico to purchase weapons through the U.S. Direct Commercial Sales Program, and that the company may have had a direct link to the Zetas."
Last year the direct sales program was used to provide Mexico with $416.5 million worth of weapons and equipment, U.S. statistics indicate.
A spokeswoman for the El Paso DEA office said the agency does not have any information about the Zetas operating in the border region.

Source

[axixic2]

Link to the story:
Zetas may be smuggling weapons - El Paso Times

Arms and Equipment Sold via Direct Commercial Sales, North America (Mexico) 1996-2012

http://justf.org/Program?program=Dir...mmercial_Sales

This link for Mexico Arms sales might not remain good:
http://justf.org/Program?program=Dir...rica&x=73&y=12

http://opslaw.com/node/75

Direct Commercial Sales
The Department of State's Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) program regulates and licenses private U.S. companies' overseas sales of weapons and other defense articles, defense services, and military training. (Note: this is different from Foreign Military Sales, which concerns government-to-government sales).

Apparently there are public records of arms sold to Mexico which are not government to government sales. Amazing, isn't it? I guess there are people in the U.S. government who think making crime worse in Mexico is O.K., and it's so O.K. there are government records to prove it.

[malamute]

It's like this story:
For 11 months, although in this case just watching them might have paid off because they were able to catch more that way. Driving a bus with no passengers from Durango would have to be quite obvious.

Drug ring used tour buses to smuggle marijuana through El Paso - El Paso Times

The marijuana - typically 400 pounds per bus - was unloaded twice a week at a warehouse in Commerce City.

Investigators believe the pot originated in Durango, Mexico, and entered the country through El Paso, Texas.

The buses did not carry passengers. Only the driver and another person were on the buses, said Pam Russell, a district attorney's office spokeswoman.

[TBCasino]

Originally Posted by malamute

It's like this story:
For 11 months, although in this case just watching them might have paid off because they were able to catch more that way. Driving a bus with no passengers from Durango would have to be quite obvious.

Drug ring used tour buses to smuggle marijuana through El Paso - El Paso Times

The marijuana - typically 400 pounds per bus - was unloaded twice a week at a warehouse in Commerce City.

Investigators believe the pot originated in Durango, Mexico, and entered the country through El Paso, Texas.

The buses did not carry passengers. Only the driver and another person were on the buses, said Pam Russell, a district attorney's office spokeswoman.

While any drug seizure is good, I'd rather seize the drug money going south. With a drug seizure, cartels lose just the drugs, with a money seizure, the cartels lose the drugs ( they sold 'em already ), and the profits as well.