WASHINGTON — At least 122 weapons used to commit crimes in Mexixo have been linked to Operation Fast and Furious, the botched ATF effort to track weapons sold to gunrunners, according to a Congressional report expected to be released Tuesday.
The New York Times reports that details of Congressional investigators' findings show that on 48 occasions between 2009 and 2011 Mexican authorities found weapons from the U.S. operation. The newspaper quotes emails from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The ATF was responsible for the operation. The report was compiled by the staffs of Representative Darrell Issa of California and Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the two Republicans leading the investigation, the Times reports.
“The faulty design of Operation Fast and Furious led to tragic consequences,” the report concludes. “Countless United States and Mexican citizens suffered as a result.”
The findings also detail the death of the brother of a Mexican law enforcement official and several shootouts involving Mexican police helicopters, that purport to have ties to Fast and Furious guns. However, those incidents have no guns directly linked to the operation.
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