On February 19, the head of the state police in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, was shot to death in front of his house. The shot came from a field approximately 60 meters away, with a sniper rifle.
The Mexican newspaper Proceso reported:
MONTERREY, N.L. (apro).- The commander of the State Investigation Agency, Gustavo Gerardo Garza Saucedo, was executed this early morning by a sniper using a .50 caliber rifle to shoot him when he arrived home in Apodaca, 20 kilometers northwest of the capital, reported today by the Prosecutor of Nuevo Leon.
A bipod used to steady the rifle, and a spent shell were found in the field.
As is all too often the case, no arrests have been made in this, the latest murder of a law enforcement official in Mexico.
As the weapon was not recovered, it is not yet known if the .50 caliber rifle was one of many sent to the drug cartels by the Obama administration as part of the now disgraced Operation Fast and Furious.
But, it would not be the first time such a weapon was used against government forces.
While it is well-known that the murders of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Jaime Zapata were been linked to the ATF program, the downing of a Mexican military helicopter with assault weapons traced to the infamous program has received very little coverage.
In fact, outside of CBS' investigative reporter Sharyl Atkisson, the story never received even a mention from the mainstream press.
In May 2011, a Mexican military helicopter was forced down after sustaining fire from a .50 caliber rifle that was later traced back to the gun-running operation known as Fast and Furious.
In June 2011, Atkisson reported that suspected drug cartel operatives shot at several helicopters in western Mexico, with the damage to one being so severe that its crew was forced to land. Mexican forces engaged the suspects on the ground and reportedly seized more than 70 assault rifles.
The serial numbers on many of those weapons were eventually traced back to the ATF operation.
An unnamed U.S. law enforcement source told Atkisson: "Shooting at an aircraft is a terrorist act. What does that say if we're helping Mexican drug cartels engage in acts of terror? That's appalling if we could have stopped those guns."
According to the CBS report, weapons used in that attack were taken into Mexico by individuals already under indictment for allegedly selling arms to the drug cartels.
To date, the Department of Justice has not commented on this incident.
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