U.S. federal authorities busted an alleged gun smuggling ring that employed young housewives and older moms to purchase assault rifles for smugglers taking guns to Mexican drug cartels. More than 200 weapons, including AK-47s and sniper rifles, were seized and 22 people have been arrested. Many are accused of being so-called "straw buyers" -- gun shoppers without prior criminal records who legitimately buy from licensed dealers, then hand the weapons to smugglers.
During a news conference in San Antonio, the Justice Department trumpeted the arrests as a "big hit" in stopping the flow of guns to Mexico. The same agency was left beleaguered following Operation Fast and Furious, in which federal agents in Arizona tried tracking guns suspected of being bought by straw purchasers.
That operation erupted into controversy when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lost track of thousands of weapons, two of which turned up at an Arizona shootout where a Customs and Border Protection agent was killed.
None of the weapons seized in the South Texas case were tracked, said Crisanto Pérez, assistant ATF special agent in charge.
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