SubHntr
New member
This is more fuel for Bloomberg and his pack id-10-t's. Wait and see. they'll be all over this.
Gun Shop Raid Targets Weapons Trafficking To Cartels
1,300 Weapons Seized At 2 Locations
POSTED: 11:47 am MST May 6, 2008
UPDATED: 5:49 pm MST May 6, 2008
PHOENIX -- Federal and state officials said they broke up a Phoenix-based firearms trafficking operation on Tuesday that provided violent Mexican drug cartels with hundreds of weapons.
The owner of a gun shop called X Caliber Guns, George Iknadosian, 46, knowingly sold at least 650 firearms to drug cartels, according to officials with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Weapons were also sezied from his home, authorities said. The firearms ranged from high-end semiautomatic pistols to assault-style rifles.
About 1,300 weapons were seized at the two locations.
"These are weapons of war for the cartels and they're procuring them here by illegal means," said Peter Forcelli, an ATF supervisory special agent.
The investigation into X Caliber began 11 months ago, and in that time, undercover agents with ATF and Phoenix police have gone into the store and bought guns after indicating they were to be trafficked to Mexico, ATF special agent Carlos Baixauli told The Associated Press.
Agents raided the store Tuesday and arrested Iknadosian, a Glendale resident. Also arrested were two Mexican brothers legally living in the Phoenix metro area.
Baixauli said the brothers, identified as Hugo Gamez, 26, and Cesar Gamez, 28, worked for a major Mexican drug cartel.
"The illegal sale of weapons figures prominently in many cross-border crimes," said Arizona Attorney general Terry Goddard. "We are targeting these sales and working closely with other law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and Mexico to stop them."
The three were in the custody of Phoenix police and face charges including conducting an illegal enterprise, misconduct involving weapons, money laundering, forgery and fraudulent schemes.
"The bottom line is illegal gun trafficking is not only destroying Mexico, but some of these guns may get back to the United States," Baixauli said. "It puts our law enforcement officers in danger, and in Mexico, it decimates law enforcement."
Tuesday's arrests come less than two months after Attorneys General from the United States and Mexico announced at the end of a three-day meeting in Phoenix "a new era of binational cooperation to fight organized crime in both countries." Arms trafficking was identified as one of four principal areas of increased law enforcement cooperation.
Illegal arms sales figured prominently in the death last year of some 2,000 Mexican law enforcement officers, according to state officials.
Phoenix has been identified as one of the top five metropolitan areas in the country where weapons and ammunition are obtained and illegally smuggled into Mexico.
Gun Shop Raid Targets Weapons Trafficking To Cartels
1,300 Weapons Seized At 2 Locations
POSTED: 11:47 am MST May 6, 2008
UPDATED: 5:49 pm MST May 6, 2008
PHOENIX -- Federal and state officials said they broke up a Phoenix-based firearms trafficking operation on Tuesday that provided violent Mexican drug cartels with hundreds of weapons.
The owner of a gun shop called X Caliber Guns, George Iknadosian, 46, knowingly sold at least 650 firearms to drug cartels, according to officials with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Weapons were also sezied from his home, authorities said. The firearms ranged from high-end semiautomatic pistols to assault-style rifles.
About 1,300 weapons were seized at the two locations.
"These are weapons of war for the cartels and they're procuring them here by illegal means," said Peter Forcelli, an ATF supervisory special agent.
The investigation into X Caliber began 11 months ago, and in that time, undercover agents with ATF and Phoenix police have gone into the store and bought guns after indicating they were to be trafficked to Mexico, ATF special agent Carlos Baixauli told The Associated Press.
Agents raided the store Tuesday and arrested Iknadosian, a Glendale resident. Also arrested were two Mexican brothers legally living in the Phoenix metro area.
Baixauli said the brothers, identified as Hugo Gamez, 26, and Cesar Gamez, 28, worked for a major Mexican drug cartel.
"The illegal sale of weapons figures prominently in many cross-border crimes," said Arizona Attorney general Terry Goddard. "We are targeting these sales and working closely with other law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and Mexico to stop them."
The three were in the custody of Phoenix police and face charges including conducting an illegal enterprise, misconduct involving weapons, money laundering, forgery and fraudulent schemes.
"The bottom line is illegal gun trafficking is not only destroying Mexico, but some of these guns may get back to the United States," Baixauli said. "It puts our law enforcement officers in danger, and in Mexico, it decimates law enforcement."
Tuesday's arrests come less than two months after Attorneys General from the United States and Mexico announced at the end of a three-day meeting in Phoenix "a new era of binational cooperation to fight organized crime in both countries." Arms trafficking was identified as one of four principal areas of increased law enforcement cooperation.
Illegal arms sales figured prominently in the death last year of some 2,000 Mexican law enforcement officers, according to state officials.
Phoenix has been identified as one of the top five metropolitan areas in the country where weapons and ammunition are obtained and illegally smuggled into Mexico.
