BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — Federal agents are barely able to slow the river of American guns flowing into Mexico.
In two years, a new effort to increase inspections of travelers crossing the border has netted just 386 guns — an almost infinitesimal amount given that an estimated 2,000 slip across each day.
The problem came into sharp focus again last month when a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was killed on a northern Mexican highway with a gun that was purchased in a town outside Fort Worth, Texas.
Stopping the flow of American guns, bullets and cash has long bedeviled authorities on both sides of the border.
Since March 2009, Customs and Border Protection officers have teamed up with Border Patrol agents and, sometimes, sheriff's deputies to scrutinize travelers.
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