Mexican Government Denied Information on ATF 'Gun Walker' Operation

It's become a wild west world of Mexican mercenaries hired to save the populace from deadly cartels.

Time/date stamped photo by Salem-News.com Photojournalist Robert Plumlee shows a Mexican military helicopter at Escondido ranch with border fence in foreground - enroute to an operation

(SALEM, Ore.) - The United States govt. is continuing to frustrate Mexican officials, who have been battling extremely violent drug cartels in their country for the last three decades. Mexico through diplomatic channels, has recently asked the United States to share with them all the available information and documentation concerning covert operations being conducted in their country by US military personal.

The operations now widely know as operation 'Gun Walker' and 'Fast and Furious', are but two of the secret operations Mexico has requested information from the U.S. State Department. It appears the United States Government does not want, or will not, honor Mexico's request.

It is now a recorded fact. The narco terrorists have taken over large portions of northern Mexico, which has now become a place seething with dead bodies and criminals who are fully corrupted by the lucrative gun and drug running operations which are running rampart through their country.

In some cases this has created a spill over effect, which has now reached deep into the United States. This has become a National Security matter, which the United States seems to be unaware of.

Robert Plumlee on the U.S. Mexico border fence - 2011

This threat is far more sinister and deadly than "immigration reform", or the lonely 'wet-back', who swims for his life, while crossing the Rio Grande, and silently slips into the U.S. looking for work.

Numerous questions surround the degree of complicity by the United States government, which have been shown recently, makes one wonder; who has been fueling this drug and weapons war? There has been strong, 'reliable', allegations that the United States, through cut out companies and individuals, has been indirectly funding and equipping these cartels.

Additional questions arise from sudden interest the U.S. government has in one particular individual who may know more than he should about the operations, that is our Photojournalist Robert Plumlee, a former CIA Contract Operative.

The U.S. supplied weapons ultimately were used to kill at least one, possibly two U.S. federal agents, and weapons from this U.S. weapons batch were also used to kill a prominent Mexican attorney, and by Mexican nationals in a crime against two Arizona police officers.

The heat level began to rise after Congressman Darrell Issa and Senator Chuck Grassley began investigating 'Fast and Furious' and the AG's role in the deadly fiasco. The ATF is said to have stonewalled requests for information, refusing to provide key documents.

Even worse, and in keeping with the theme of current developments, ATF officials are said to have threatened ATF line agents who raised objections to Fast and Furious, both during and after the Operation - with retaliation. Eventually, after the hard efforts of the Gun Rights Examiner and The Sipsey Street Irregulars, and three House Oversight Committee hearings and some never coverage by CBS, FOX and others, the details began to emerge.

Holder of the Cards

Holder landed in a glaring spotlight after being grilled by a Congressional panel this summer headed by Rep. Daniel Issa of California. Holder stated that he only recently learned about the 'Fast and Furious' operation.

We revealed in the story, Holder Lied: DOJ News Release Shows Obama Admin Approved ATF Mexico Weapons Smuggling, that Holder knew all about the operation, because he detailed its existence in a news release all the way back in April, 2009.

After reading this release, watch the video to see Holder's statements.

Attorney General Eric Holder at the Mexico/United States Arms Trafficking Conference in CUERNAVACA, MEXICO Thursday, April 2, 2009

Last week, our administration launched a major new effort to break the backs of the cartels.  My department is committing 100 new ATF personnel to the Southwest border in the next 100 days to supplement our ongoing Project Gunrunner, DEA is adding 16 new positions on the border, as well as mobile enforcement teams, and the FBI is creating a new intelligence group focusing on kidnapping and extortion.  DHS is making similar commitments, as Secretary Napolitano will detail.

But as today’s conference has emphasized, the problem of arms trafficking will not be stopped at the border alone.  Rather, as our experts emphasized, this is a problem that must be met as part of a comprehensive attack against the cartels – an attack in depth, on both sides of the border, that focuses on the leadership and assets of the cartel...

Mexican President Felipe Calderón Photo: Stanford University

Violence Plagued Mexico

It is Mexico that is paying the big price for this illegal activity. President Felipe Calderón, from everything we understand, is an elected official with an honest desire to trying to save his country.

The cartel problems are so fierce that there is strong speculation one particular group, Los Zeta Cartel, will take Mexico over next year if the elections don't go their way.

If the election results do ultimately fit the plans of the cartels, the end result will be the same, however a bloody revolution may be avoided.

This is the environment Holder and Obama are fostering, particularly with the official approval of 'Fast and Furious', where almost 2000 guns were delivered to cartels and used to kill American federal agents... as if the cartels don't have enough firepower?

The safety of Americans greatly hinges upon border security and the men running this country are undermining that very thing.

The weapons from the 'Fast and Furious' operation were used in two deadly shootings that left U.S. federal agents dead, and they were also used in a crime against two Arizona undercover police officers who were allegedly assaulted last year when they attempted to stop two men in a stolen vehicle with two of the program's weapons in a confrontation south of Phoenix. One of the weapons was an AK-47.

An extremely concise overview of the gunrunning operation and its history is provided by thetruthaboutguns.com in an article titled: ATF Death Watch 53: The Truth About Operation Fast and Furious:

In 2005, the Bureau launched Project Gunrunner. They established the program to stop gun smugglers from buying and exporting weapons from gun dealers to Mexican drug cartels. Project Gunrunner led to the arrest of hundreds of so-called straw purchasers: citizens with clean criminal records buying firearms illegally on the behalf of criminals. The ATF claimed they were stemming an “Iron River” of illegal guns headed south. Despite an Inspector General report condemning the ATF for failing to catch “the big fish,” Congress rewarded the ATF with additional funding. In 2009, Project Gunrunner mutated into something far more sinister: Operation Fast and Furious.

During Project Gunrunner, ATF agents arrested straw purchasers before weapons crossed the U.S. – Mexican border. In Operation Fast and Furious, ATF agents made no attempt to arrest either the original purchaser or the criminal who received the illegally purchased firearms. In some cases, ATF agents hand-delivered weapons to gun smugglers. In all cases, the federal law enforcement agency let the smuggled guns “walk” across the border.

Several American gun dealers (who had not been informed of the sting operation ahead of time) were immediately suspicious of the straw purchasers, many of whom bought multiple guns multiple times. The gun dealers contacted the ATF and requested guidance or intervention. The ATF told the dealers to complete the transactions and let the weapons go.

As expected, straw purchasers smuggled these semi-automatic rifles and handguns across the U.S. border into the hands of Mexican drug cartel members. Hundreds and then thousands of semi-automatic rifles and handguns disappeared into the hands of vicious criminals.

Concerned ATF agents monitoring the sales understood the danger to Mexicans and Americans alike. They begged their superiors for permission to interdict the guns at the U.S. border. All such requests were summarily refused.

Within months, Fast and Furious-enabled firearms began to show up at Mexican crime scenes via the ATF’s eTrace tracking system. It’s not possible to determine how many Mexicans were murdered by cartel members using Fast and Furious firearms. All parties involved admit that the numbers reached into the hundreds.

ATF agents at the sharp end became increasingly disturbed by the notion of drug thugs using Bureau-enabled guns to murder rivals and innocent civilians. They worried that cartel members would use the guns against U.S. law enforcement officials. The agents published their discontent on a website called cleanupatf.org. Gun bloggers David Cordrea and Mike Vanderboegh pursued the story.

New Developments

Our newsroom has been advised that the Mexican government is trying to glean information about U.S. -involved actions along their northern border and that U.S. officials with the State Dept. are refusing to cooperate. A member of our team, Robert Plumlee, who for many years served as a CIA contract operative, ended up at the center of the controversy.

A little more than three years ago, Mr. Plumlee was asked, by an extremely sensitive military source to accompany them into Mexico and investigate events which they found troubling that were taking place along the Mexico/New Mexico border. This joint Task Force which were operating covertly inside Mexico, where encountering strange interference which were jeprodising the success of the operation. Most of this INTEL and ITS strange encounters were being traced back to the various agencies of the U.S. government.

As we have explained in past reports, Mr. Plumlee was contacted by a 'high ranking' member of a U.S./Mexican joint task force that had been operating in northern Mexico for over a year. This secret team comprised of Mexican Marines and U.S. Army soldiers; one of the first, 'boots on the ground' operation being conducted inside Mexico is something we wrote about on Sept. 2010, along with Bill Conroy of the Narcosphere. (see: US Special Forces are Operating in Mexico)

These weapons were discovered and seized Tuesday by Border Patrol agents near the Rio Grande in Fronton. Photo: U.S. Border Patrol

Mexico denied the operation at first, but then Wikileaks released a cable that confirmed the 'boots on the ground' article and our previous allegations right down to the last 'T'. This information came to us 'before the fact via Mr Plumlee, months before the WikiLeaks cables were released. The information had been reported to various federal agencies at that time, but no action was taken.

It is important to note that our intention, here at Salem-News has always been to simply report the facts and tell the truth about stories we receive from the trenches. Salem-News.com staff writers addressing this subject have great respect for the warriors on the ground slugging it out, trying to make a difference. Exposing the corruption of politicians who create the environments that further endanger the lives of these ground pounders is our goal, we have mucho respect for the military forces and police and USBP personnel who are simply doing their jobs.

When the joint U.S./Mexican task force first contacted Mr. Plumlee, they explained that their operations were being thwarted, and in one event an operation to raid a delivery of weapons from the U.S. side to Mexico was undermined because higher up's, within Homeland Security and The State Department, not to mention, Justice advised the Border Patrol to send marked units to congregate on the road that the weapons shipment was traveling on.

After the Mexican convoy and gun runners saw the commotion at the border fence created by the arrival of the five Border Patrol trucks they naturally, hung a u-turn and aborted the operation and disappeared heading south, in a cloud of dust, from the Escondido Ranch.

Skull, bone in clothing... coyotes scattered other bones around the area. Photo by Tosh Plumlee.

Something very dark lurks on the U.S./Mexican border. There are unconfirmed reports that cartels have funded U.S. politicians and that within that, is the connection to the large weapons shipments of the latest U.S. arms... the same items currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We're talking about serious high tech arms like anti-aircraft guns, rocket propelled grenades; and other heavy weapons with tremendous firepower capability.

While it may be true that Robert 'Tosh' Plumlee has been a thorn in the side of the clandestine illegal immoral operations taking place for a long time, it is also true that the utilization of experience such as his can save lives, time and money.

He reported the 'Fast and Furious' operation and the relationship of several city officials in Colombus, New Mexico, long before a number of people there, including the police chief and mayor, were arrested.

Border fence is two hundred feet to the left of pic.

He has photographed (with GPS settings) a number of dead body locations on the U.S. side of the border which officials in New Mexico for all intents and purposes, refused to investigate.

Bodies of kids, bodies of men, women, all probably victims of the drug war, but who knows? We live in a world where money revolves around industries like the human sex trade and slavery.

Even if they are the bodies of migrants who died trying to reach the U.S. through less than legal means, should their remains be ignored?

Should they be left in place until a new connector road is built that will eventually facilitate NAFTA traffic? That is indeed what has taken place.

I try to imagine the frustration of Robert Plumlee, who, as a longtime government operative, knows how things are supposed to work in law enforcement and how they are not supposed to work. There are set and established parameters that officials are obligated to follow.

Backhoe digging at the border fence. Columbus- Polamas bypass 3/5/11 (12 foot deep hole right next to the border fence to be used as a 'storm drain'.)

In one event, Mr. Plumlee turned over information regarding the discovery of human remains buried in skeletal remains in 'Shallow Graves' in Luna County near the border fence east of Columbus New Mexico. The Sheriff's Dept. said they checked it out and nothing was there except some old clothes. Long story short, he was told there were no bodies, even as he held up a photograph that clearly showed otherwise.

Still, officials in Luna County said they would not respond to his report. This seems like something that even a hundred years ago, prior to the age of modern technology, would not have happened. Interestingly, on his next visit to the location, he noted that the human remains had carefully been removed from the area.

He photographs and reports and has constantly kept the dust moving in this part of the world and now, once again, we are worried about Mr. Plumlee's safety, and that is again related to the U.S. government, not the cartels.

His work is far from unrecognized, but until the right people from the federal government step forward and take control away from seemingly rogue operators, the problems will continue to escalate.

Town Under Siege Hires Mercenaries

First, it is revealed by Mexican press that one particular town, so sick and tired of the cartel-inspired death and violence and intimidation, has hired mercenaries to protect the town's few remaining inhabitants.

A memo dated 12 August 2011 states:

".... Just got word from a source with the TF that they have encountered "armed", mercenaries hired by Mexican citizens and business in various cities, in north eastern Mexico and around Monterrey. They have been hired, "by men with money" it was said my one town mayor. They raised the money from wealthy American citizens in Monterrey to help them fight off roving gangs and DTO cartel intimidation and extortion. The source reports that they were "gangs" and not directly associated with any known cartel groups.... have you anything on this?... two sources mention a company called L-3..."

A quick search of 'L-3' explains that this is a Defense Contractor that wired.com describes L-3 this way:

"Based in New York, L-3 Communications ranks eighth on Washington Technology’s 2011 list of the largest federal-government contractors. Among other things the company provides command-and-control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C3ISR) technology to the Pentagon and intelligence agencies."

The 'TF' referenced above is the Mexico/U.S. military joint task force that was first revealed in the article, U.S. Military has Special Ops "Boots on the Ground" in Mexico by Bill Conroy of the narcosphere. We followed that report with: US Special Forces are Operating in Mexico - Salem-News.com

Next came the official denial of our report by the Mexican embassy in Washington D.C.: Mexico Denies US Special Forces Presence South of the Border - Tim King Salem-News.com. This was ultimately concluded by the Wikileaks cable, as detailed in: Is Los Zetas Military Cartel Planning a Bloody Revolution in Mexico?.

In the context of working with the joint task force, Mr. Plumlee has been a valuable asset. He knows the border region like the back of his hand and he can tell you about the trails the cartels use to travel back and forth to the U.S. undetected as the trails wind through canyons, the exact same canyons that Pancho Villa used to raid U.S. border town a hundred years earlier. In that time period or now, Mr. Plumlee says it is a trail of bodies owned by the bad guys.

Correspondence from the joint TF, last week:

"... I believe things down your way are about to heat up around Juarez in reference to "new firefights, on the south side....... copy of correspondence leading to this... you should be able to confirm this from other sources and law enforcement recent reports... border jumping should increase just before these acts are to take place... perhaps to draw down your resources into one place.. just a thought.. keep your ears and eyes open... and be safe down there...."

Arrest Threat

We were shocked to learn in June 2011, that the U.S. State Department advised the Border Patrol to arrest Mr. Plumlee if he crossed the border anywhere except for the civilian ports of entry.

With a background that involves everything from the Cuban Missile Crisis to weapon running operations to Nicaragua, Robert Plumlee has been a hands-on participant in the military/law enforcement world for a long time.

He regularly has moved back and forth as a valuable help to the military task force which relied on his background and local knowledge of events, places and people. That is until last June, when he was advised he would be arrested, and then informed he would need to attend a meeting with officials from Border Patrol, and both the State Dept. and the Dept. of Justice.

We were not sure if they were going to wise up and enlist the help of Mr. Plumlee in intelligence gathering, to help find answers to out of control problems, or if it might be the last time any of us saw him. Because of these concerns, we went so far as to publish the otherwise non-disclosed location of his meeting with those officials. Now we know that pieces of the story have been read into the Congressional record, and that will raise his level of safety to a degree also.

The threat of arrest is likely connected to the success Robert Plumlee has had in getting information out that officials never wanted to see the light of day. This article, Salem-News Photojournalist with Army Task Force 7 in Mexico threatened with arrest by U.S. Border Patrol - Tosh Plumlee Salem-News.com, provides more details about the arrest threat.

Now more information is coming out about attempts to block information by the State Dept., information Mexico seeks to attain a full understanding of the related events in their own country.

Robert Plumlee says:

"... seems Mexico Embassy personal in DC, wants all information about guns in Columbus NM and the ATF Fast and Furious operation, as well as the articles concerning my information to Salem News and Narco News about US weapons violations; The State Department and Justice will not give them what they want... In fact they (STATE) told them (MX) there was no meeting on July 1st with BP and me, or any reports they could find on this 'alleged' meeting with Plumlee and the Border Patrol".

Further information indicates that the State Dept. claims that the Border Patrol told them they BP knew nothing about this "alleged" meeting between Plumlee and the Border Patrol in Las Cruces on July 1st this year. That is interesting, because we covered it like a play-by-play sports event.

Some years later, after brief retirement, known as 'The Farm'; Tosh reactivated himself and became attached as an undercover operative and contract pilot for the federal government during President Reagan's "Drug War". He was attached to a secret team known as 'America-Mexico Special Operations Group' ("AMSOG"), HQ'ed Panama Southern Command. Tosh worked with KiKi Camarena and his pilot, before they were murdered and he was a Military/DEA contract pilot, attached to Panama and Colombia, Costa Rica Investigative Task Force on Narcotics. As a pilot, Tosh was also associated with the Contra Resupply Network. This is where things become even more interesting. (Read his full bio on our staff page)

In recent years Tosh has been working along the U.S./Mexico border as a news photojournalist and his contributions to Salem-News.com are wide ranging and extremely valuable. We believe he is the top living source of information about U.S. government covert history. You can write to Robert 'Tosh' Plumlee at: lexington3509wrp@gmail.com

Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Silver Spoke Award by the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (2011), Excellence in Journalism Award by the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs (2010), Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), First-place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Tim has several years of experience in network affiliate news TV stations, having worked as a reporter and photographer at NBC, ABC and FOX stations in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. Tim was a member of the National Press Photographer's Association for several years and is a current member of the Orange County Press Club.

Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website. As News Editor, Tim among other things, is responsible for publishing the original content of 82 Salem-News.com writers. He reminds viewers that emails are easily missed and urges those trying to reach him, to please send a second email if the first goes unanswered. You can write to Tim at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com