ATF: New Technology And Manpower For Seizing Illegal Weapons Traffic

By Martin Bartlett

EL PASO — The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced plans to step up pressure on gun trafficking along the border in El Paso on Wednesday.

Federal agents will be repositioned by the dozens along the borderland to help fight the movement of weapons into Mexico as part of ‘Operation Gunrunner’.

The acting directorof the ATF&E, Michael J.Sullivan,said the addition of manpower along with new high-tech tools deployed to all U.S. consulates in Mexico will be in place in the next few months.

Law enforcement agencies said they being put there to combat trafficking that arms drug cartels operating throughout the country. What many said is most troubling is the inability to track just how many guns cross into Mexico; that is the target for this new technology.

“The [tracking] of these weapons recovered in Mexico is crucial because it allows us to identify trafficking corridors, patterns and schemes as well as traffickers and their accomplices,” Sullivan said in his announcement.

But some law enforcement agents say focusing on the rural points of crossing will only move the problem closer to the city. Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West has been a major advocate for more help along the border, but he cautioned that the problem may only move rather than be eliminated.

“They’re probably trying to go through the ports where they’ll be less detected,” West said.

Federal officials however, are confident that the innovation of tracking technology coupled with the increased diligence will help curb the flow of weapons in both directions.

“The focus is on the criminal — the criminal organizations and the drug traffickers,” Sullivan said. Because the traffickers are willing to pursue all manner of illegal transport, agencies and their agents have to be adaptable.