Amy Goodman
@DemocracyNow·3.2M subscribers·19.4K videos
ATF Whistleblower Vincent Cefalu on Botched Gun Trafficking Operation Fast & Furious. 2 of 2
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August 31, 2011
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8:54Now PlayingDemocracyNow.org - A botched operation to track the flow of guns from the United States into Mexico has prompted the removal of the acting director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the resignation of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona. Under the once-secret program known as "Operation Fast and Furious," federal agents encouraged U.S. gun shops to sell thousands of weapons to middlemen for Mexican drug cartels. The program was meant to gain access to senior-level figures within Mexico's criminal organizations, but agents lost track of as many as 2,500 guns. Last week, the Department of Justice acknowledged to Congress that firearms connected with the ATF's controversial sting operation were used in at least 11 violent crimes in the United States, including the slaying of a U.S. border patrol agent. Meanwhile, the program has never led to any arrests, and three key ATF supervisors were promoted earlier this month.
Watch Part 1 of the interview
Democracy Now! speaks with Vincent Cefalu, an ATF Special Agent who helped blow the whistle on Operation Fast and Furious and has since faced retaliation. "We allowed these guns to continue on in the hopes of establishing some sort of chain, or iron pipeline, which was so far from the truth," Cefalu says. "The only way to attract the guns would be with crime scenes and dead bodies."
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