ATF allowing guns into mexico

to go through with sales of three or more assault rifles at the same time… They went through with the sales because the ATF told them to go through with the sales,” Deguerin said, adding that the store reported all suspicious sales to the ATF.

Federal investigators are known to use such techniques in drug trafficking investigations.

“Controlled delivery is an investigative technique that allows specific consignments of illegal drugs or other controlled substances to pass through the territory of one or more states with the objective of identifying not only the street dealers, but the individuals controlling the drug trade network,” a State Department Web site notes.

The ATF, however, has not admitted to using that technique for gun trafficking investigations. While ATF did not respond to requests for comment from FoxNews.com, Mexican newspaper El Diario El Paso reported last week that ATF spokesman Scot Thomasson told them, “we do not permit the exit of arms to Mexico.”

Grassley’s first letter to the ATF hinted at the potential problems with allowing firearms to cross borders, writing that two of the weapons that the ATF allegedly sanctioned to be sold to straw purchasers were sold to Mexican gangs and “were then allegedly used in a firefight on 14 December, 2010, against Customs and Border Protection agents, killing CBP Agent Brian Terry.”

Gun rights bloggers have speculated that the reason for allowing the guns into Mexico was to pad statistics on the number of guns crossing the border — the suspicion being that a higher number would make the ATF’s mission in preventing the guns from crossing seem all the more urgent.

The former ATF agent who spoke with FoxNews.com said that he had no reason to think that padding the statistics was a motivation.

FoxNews.com previously reported that an often-quoted statistic that 90 percent of guns used in Mexico crimes came from the United States referred to traceable guns. Many guns found at Mexican crime scenes either cannot be traced, or are clearly not of U.S. origin, or are not sent back to the United States for tracing.

None of the claims about the ATF allowing guns to cross the border have been conclusively proved. Senator Grassley has called for the ATF to be more transparent to allow the truth to come out.

“This is exactly the wrong sort of reaction for the ATF,” Grassley’s second letter reads.

“Rather than focusing on retaliating against whistleblowers, the ATF’s sole focus should be on finding and disclosing the truth as soon as possible.”