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Drug trafficking

Mexican attorney general charges 7 people in 'Fast and Furious' gun trafficking scandal

Among those charged in the decade-plus old case are the country's former police commander, and now-incarcerated drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman

January 12, 2022 9:14am

Updated: January 12, 2022 9:14am

Mexican prosecutors have announced charges against seven individuals in connection with the decade-old "Fast and Furious" weapons trafficking scandal.

The botched operation took place during President Obama's first term, involved agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allowing criminals at the U.S. border to purchase firearms with the intention of tracking the weapons and ultimately reducing criminal cartel activity across and on the U.S. border.

The agency, however, lost track of most of the guns, including the two that were discovered at the scene of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry's murder in 2010.

Mexican officials now say that gangs involving with drug trafficking, and former government officials also participated in what became a weapons trafficking operation. The office of the country's Attorney General announced trafficking charges Sunday against seven people including the nation's former top police official, and infamous drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who is currently serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison. 

Former Federal Police commander Luis Cardenas Palomino was also charged. He had previously been arrested in Mexico on charges of torture, and U.S. prosecutors have accused him of accepting millions of dollars in bribes from the Sinaloa cartel.