U.S. confirms .50 caliber rifle found inside El Chapo’s hideout designed to shoot down helicopters was sold through botched government program
Massive .50 caliber rifle was one of 19 weapons inside Mexican hideout
Justice Department confirms it was sold through Fast and Furious program
ATF sting involved deliberately selling weapons to Mexican cartel dealers
Intention was that guns would then be tracked and used to make arrests
But ATF was forced into admission that it lost 1,400 of the 2,000 guns sold
It is not believed the weapon was used in shootout that left five of El Chapo’s henchmen dead and injured one Mexican Marine
By CHRIS PLEASANCE
DAILYMAIL.COM
16 March 2016
The Justice Department has confirmed that a .50 caliber sniper rifled found at El Chapo’s Mexican hideout and used to shoot down helicopters was sold through the Fast and Furious program.
The rifle was found inside the Los Mochis property where the Sinaloa Cartel kingpin was discovered hiding on January 8 this year before a raid by the Mexican Marines that led to his capture.
Fast and Furious was a botched Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives smuggling operation in which guns were deliberately sold to cartel dealers.
The hope was that the weapons could be traced south over the border into Mexico, and then used to make arrests using serial numbers as evidence.
While the program did lead to a handful of arrests, the agency was eventually forced to admit that it lost track of 1,400 of the 2,000 weapons it sold.
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