Lucio R. with C.E. Martinez for Borderland Beat material from Insight Crime and BB Archives
![]()
Below Scribd documents (ATF) and Photos
How many of these high profile killings will Fast & Furious weapons be discovered? How is it that these weapons are only discovered at Big Stories? Whatever the case, that is the story
Insight Crime and other news outlets are reporting that, once again, weapons linked to the U.S. operation Fast & Furious, have been discovered in the aftermath of a “Big Story”.
In this case, these weapons were discovered at the massacre of El Rancho El Sol located in communities Tanhuato and Ecuandureo. Michoacán, which sits on the border of Jalisco.
Last May the killing of 42 young men by federal forces, had overwhelming evidence of another extrajudicial massacre by the government. Beginning with the lopsided number of deaths on each side, 42 civilians, 1 federal element. Evidence strongly suggests the men were ambushed while sleeping, killed from gunfire from the air (minigun from helicopter) as they attempted to flee, re-positioning of bodies in photos, and torturing before death. Many of the bodies were in rigor mortis when moved and placed in another position, easily identified in photos, so to the planting of weapons and shots to the back.
The government’s version is that forces were attacked.
Raul Benitez Manaut, a security expert at the National Autonomous University of Mexico says:
“Apparently the gang offered no resistance; it was a very uneven fight. A battle where 42 die on one side and only one on the other is not a battle."
Below: slide show has very graphic images
From Insight Crime
Weapons linked to the controversial US anti-gun trafficking operation “Fast and Furious” were found last spring at the scene of a bloody clash between Mexican police and a group of alleged cartel gunmen that left 43 dead, according to documents obtained exclusively by InSight Crime.
The previously unpublished documents, obtained through a freedom of information request, show how US and Mexican authorities traced weapons from the shootout in Michoacán to the now infamous operation, which saw US authorities allow thousands of firearms to cross into Mexico in a failed attempt to trace them to arms dealers.
 |
| Click on image to enlarge |
Additionally From Insight
The documents obtained by InSight Crime show that Mexican authorities reported recovering 42 firearms, one .50 caliber rifle and one antitank rocket at the scene of the bloodbath.
The Mexican federal police submitted the weapons for tracing to the agency that ran Fast and Furious, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tabaco and Firearms (ATF), which determined that two of the firearms were “related” to the operation, though “it is unclear if the [Fast and Furious] guns were used during this event.”
US laws prohibit the ATF from publicly disclosing most details about the weapons it traces, and the documents obtained by InSight Crime are heavily redacted, making it difficult to determine how the guns ended up at Rancho El Sol.
The Mexican Attorney General’s office, which is handling the probe of the incident, did not respond to a request for comment.Read Insight Crime full report by linking here, BB posts covering the massacre link here, additional background information of the event link here.
Below Scribd documents (ATF) and Photos