Making the headlines this past weekend was the capture of Sinaloa drug cartel kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman by Mexican marines in a joint US-Mexico operation. What caught my eye in the story of how they got Guzman was this little detail.
"He had an AK-47 next to the bed. When the Mexican marines entered the condominium, he was still asleep," said Michael Vigil, a former Drug Enforcement Administration official who says he was briefed on the raid. "They used the element of surprise, and he did not have a chance to react and seize his weapon."What makes this detail so intriguing is that so many of the AKs "walked" to Mexico during Operation Fast and Furious ended up in Sinaloa Cartel hands. Indeed, the cartel's logistics head who is in US custody, Jesus Vicente Zambada-Niebla, has argued in court filings that the walked guns were meant to arm the Sinaloa Cartel in their fight with their rivals.
Guzman had an assault rifle and ammunition close by when Mexican marines broke into the apartment in a "surgical" operation, the Mexican official said.
You have to wonder if that AK-47 was a walked firearm and, if so, will the serial numbers be sent to BATFE for tracing. For some reason, I think while the Justice Department is quite pleased that they "got Shorty", I don't think they will ever want that particular AK-47s serial numbers traced. The answer might not be to their liking.
I'd imagine a real kingpin would want a full auto AK, not a US retail special.
ReplyDeleteAnd he'd have the resources to get one via smugglers from Central America.
Maybe, but the F&F ones were purchased with FBI money and had warranties.
ReplyDeleteIt probably came from Russia, or Africa, where gold plated AK's are all the rage with high ranking criminals. No one who could own a full auto version, would ever bother getting a semi-auto one.
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