Another Operation Fast and Furious Whistleblower Claims Malfeasance

A new whistleblower has come forward to put the spotlight on the Fast and Furious program from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms between the years 2006 and 2011. Former ATF agent Peter Forcelli, in an interview with the U.S. Sun, says weapons are continually being used by Mexican cartels due to federal programs such as Operation Fast and Furious.

The new claims are centered on current tensions between pro gun groups and the government over the use of ghost guns, which are basically functional homemade firearms without any serial numbers. Forcelli, also claims that trying to seize and stop the production of ghost guns is a waste of time. “With 3D printing, people are just going to keep making them. You want to go after the problem, but I think they’re misidentifying the problem. The problem is the people, not the item.”

The ATF at the time was facilitating sting operations, which allowed locals with clean criminal records, called straw buyers, to bring weapons with GPS systems attached over the border that could then be used and reclaimed at crime scenes. The strategy failed as no primary targets were arrested and a Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, among other locals, were mortally wounded by one of the weapons involved in the operation.

Diplomatic controversy ensued with both the Mexican and United States governments scrambling to prosecute, hide, cover-up, and clear the names of people involved in the failed operation. Forcelli went on to mention that “we could have had an impact, but we weren’t allowed to. The fact that they thumped their nose at so many, just solid cases to me was, was just malfeasance. There’s no other way to describe it.”

Forcelli has published a book titled The Deadly Path: How Operation Fast & Furious and Bad Lawyers Armed Mexican Cartels