By Bud Gillett, CBS 11 News The Draco 7.62, a semi-automatic weapon similar to the one used to kill a federal agent in Mexico on Feb. 15.
The gun used to kill a federal agent in Mexico on Feb. 15 was purchased legally from a company in Joshua, according to information released by federal officials Tuesday.
It’s “a horrible, tragic thing,” says Jim Terrill, whose business, Off-Duty Armory, sold a Romanian-made Draco 7-62 lat a Fort Worth gun show last October.
Federal officials now say it was one of three weapons used in the ambush killing of U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata and the wounding of his co-worker last month in Mexico.
Terrill said he had no way of knowing it could later be passed on to someone affiliated with a drug cartel to kill a federal officer.
“Obviously, we grieve and we get outraged when things like this happen, especially to law enforcement,” he said.
Terrill says the armory is owned by people active in public safety themselves.
According to the U.S District Attorney’s office, 22-year-old Otilio Osorio of Lancaster, who was in court briefly Tuesday on a separate charge, bought the gun.
Terrill said Osorio provided him with a picture ID and the required background information – all of which was legitimate – and that the FBI did a background check and approved the sale.
“We sell tools here that are used for good things that can also be used for bad things from time to time,” he said, shaking his head ruefully.
Osorio and a neighbor, Kelvin Leon Morrison, also of Lancaster, had cases against them put off until Friday. They were arrested in Lancaster Monday during a raid.
Morrison is charged with illegally dealing firearms and lying about buying them; he’s believed to have sold them to drug dealers.
Court documents say Osorio and his older brother, Ranferi, possessed dozens of guns with serial numbers filed off that were destined for the violent Zetas drug cartel in Mexico.
However, none of the three have been formally charged in connection with Zapata’s death.
On Friday, all three will have detention and probable cause hearings before a federal judge. Federal affidavits say the Osarios admitted both to modifying and selling firearms they bought, and that Morrison made as little as $50 on firearms he allegedly sold.
Meantime, Terrill claims he and his co-workers do everything they can, even going beyond federal guidelines, to try to keep dangerous firearms out of the wrong hands.
“We don’t want firearms being put in the hands of people that don’t have any business with them – ever,” he said.
mexicans just screwed up....."you wanna go to war? I take you to war! You filthy cockroaches!"
ReplyDeleteU.S.A.!!U.S.A.!!U.S.A.!!U.S.A.!!U.S.A.!!U.S.A.!!
According to My San Antonia: "A secret informant inside the Zetas drug cartel helped U.S. agents close in on three Texans sought in an arms-trafficking ring suspected of providing a weapon used in the ambush that killed an American agent in Mexico, court papers contend.
ReplyDeleteThe supposed informant's role was made public Tuesday after a judge partly unsealed records related to the arrest of three Dallas-area men.
The informant is not named, but is described as working inside the Zetas for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration."
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Zetas-havea-molewithintheir-ranks-1037109.php#ixzz1FQBUM98Q
"Federal officials now say it was one of three weapons used in the ambush killing of U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent"
ReplyDeleteFrom reading past articles only one gun was used when it was stuck into the cracked window of the SUV. Something smells fishy! Have ballistics matched the weapons in question?
Do they turn these semi automatic weapons into fully or select fire weapons down in old mexico? Just curious
ReplyDelete-Kenny Powers
What difference does it make where the gun came from?? Its legal to own guns in the US. US Mexicans can be criminals also ,they sell the drugs, buy the guns smuggle guns to Mexico. It is people who commit crimes, PEOPLES CONDUCT. This left wing obcession with disarming the law abiding public is misdirected. Can you imagine the argument that if NO GUNS HAD EVER COME FROM THE US, that the ZETA who killed the ICE officer would NOT have a AK ??are you all crazy???
ReplyDeleteLegal or illegal, the cartels will acquire their weapons. What they can do is stop banks from laundering money for the cartels.... Wells Fargo, Washington Mutual, etc. were all laundering money for them.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000321535545&sk=wall
ReplyDeleteThe issue here is not "the left wing" trying to take the guns of the "law-abiding public". It is a greater sense of responsibility that the entire world (except the US) understands. Sometimes, individual freedoms are less important than the benefit to society at large.
ReplyDeleteSomebody please answer the question - on what planet are handguns and semi-automatic rifles (ie AK-47s) a right. No one is denying anyone the chance to own a hunting rifle or shotgun. But these weapons are ONLY designed to kill people.
Would you be willing to restrict the sale of these types of weapons if it would save your child's life? Anyone who says "NO" is a liar
hahahaha
ReplyDeletedid you guys see the facebook page? That idiot had his wall public, bragging about "movimiento alterado" having Santa Muerte as his profile picture. Hope he gets a couple of decades in the slammer.
There's just no excuse for this whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, what kind of American in his right mind would ever sell a gun, much less an AK, to a 22 year old Hispanic from Lancaster - DOH!
2. Everyone who sells AKs knows damn well the probability of them going to MX to become a murder weapon is high. If they don't take any extra precautions, they simply are sanctioning the murder.
3. Given the free-flow of murder weapons to narco-terrorists, the unwillingness of US or TX authorities to intervene is simply state sponsored terrorism, race based to boot.
4. Finally one must say, sad as it is for the victims and their families, what comes around goes around. Gov't arms criminals - criminals kill gov't. Whose the bad guy here?
It's all a sick and unnecessary fiasco. The USA is not wholly and totally to blame, but we could do something to stop contributing to the horror occurring in Mexico day after day.
" Somebody please answer the question - on what planet are handguns and semi-automatic rifles (ie AK-47s) a right. No one is denying anyone the chance to own a hunting rifle or shotgun. But these weapons are ONLY designed to kill people."
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. A semiautomatic rifle is a weapon of mass destruction. A while ago I saw a t-shirt at a gun show with an ak-47 and the legend: " AK-47 when you absolutely have to kill every motherfucker in the room" the carnage underway in Mexico is irrefutable proof that this is the case. I am a gun owner but I cannot defend the- so called rights- of killers of women and children to have these guns, they were designed for the battlefield and serve no other purpose but to kill human beings regardless of race.
@Anonymous (March 2, 2011 11:14 AM)
ReplyDeleteThere is no difference between a semi-auto AK-47 like the one used in the murder and a hunting rifle such as the saiga 7.62 rifle. The cartridge is the same (both use 7.62x39mm), the internals work the same way, and they both only fire one shot per trigger pull. The only difference between the two is the stock, one looks like something Rambo would use while the other looks more tame and more like a traditional hunting rifle. Besides the stock they both have the same capabilities in committing a crime despite the fact that they look much different. So the idea that we should ban all semi-auto rifles is an illogical one. Once you ban semi-auto rifles you ban a large majority of hunting rifles as well, and you stated that you are opposed to that.
@5:01 pm
ReplyDeleteI bought an an ak when I was 19 (Hispanic) and 10 years later my rifle still happily sits in my safe and has only killed coffee cans during it's lifetime.
Whats your point?
It just seems odd that they found the gun so quickly. How did they recover it? US federal agents went to the zetas and asked for it? And then they confirmed it through ballistics? It just doesnt seem right.
ReplyDelete@6:03 PM
ReplyDeleteIsn't that hunting-rifles-only policy the stance Mexico has taken for years? Now days you hear about old farmers trying to fend off their land with inadequate hunting rifles against heavily armed sicarios.
I was always skeptical of the argument that if you outlaws guns, only the criminals will have them. I think that argument does not hold water when times are good, but it becomes highly relevant when a country goes through destabilization or the type of turmoil seen in MX.
If the entire world cooperated, sure, I can see why getting rid of all handguns and "assault" rifles would make sense. But that's not realistic. There will always be armies that need weapons and weapons manufacturers that produce those weapons.
I am not arguing that there is a problem with getting guns into criminal hands. Obviously there is a huge problem. I was at a reputable gun store the other day with an out-of-state license and the owner of the shop flat out told my friend to make a straw purchase so I could get the gun.
What I AM saying is that the solution is not as simple as banning all handguns and "assault" rifles.
I, for one, am damn glad common citizens in the US have access to all sorts of weapons. It would be much easier for our towns to band together and fight off bands of criminals than it is for Mexican towns to do the same.
"Somebody please answer the question - on what planet are handguns and semi-automatic rifles (ie AK-47s) a right. No one is denying anyone the chance to own a hunting rifle or shotgun. But these weapons are ONLY designed to kill people."
ReplyDeleteI may have an answer for you. Let's suppose the guns you mentioned were banned in the US. How hard would it be for criminals to set up black market for them and start in importing them from another country, much like how tons of marijuana come into the US illegally every day? Now think for a min, you are at home enjoying a nice cold beer at night when some assholes break into your home and beat you and your wife up with a couple of illegal machine pistols smuggled in from eastern Europe (legal hangun ownership is illegal now because that's how you would like it). You make a run for your Remington 700 bolt action 30.06 which is unloaded because you were told all these years that its not ok to keep a gun loaded at home. You get shot in the gut by one of the perps and you start to die a slow miserable death. During this time you are watching your young wife being rapped by the thugs who broke into your home and then you see them blow her brains out with that smuggled pistol that bought in the black market. You see all you possessions being taken and then you just bleed out and die.
I'm sorry I will not put my life in someones hands because people like you don't like certain guns.
@ 3:18 NO!
ReplyDeleteI WOULD NOT RESTRICT THE SALE OF THESE WEAPONS.
They are designed to kill people for protection--for SELF DEFENSE--including one's family and children.
If a criminal comes to my house or on my property seeking to do harm, I have a right to RETALIATE--fight force with force. EQUAL FORCE. Not some inferior weapon, weapon only used for hunting that may have to be cocked every time, or only one gun because that's all the law allows.
When criminals know that you will potentially meet force with force they may think twice about commiting the crime. If they know you are defenseless--they are fearless. And your children cannot be protected.
@Layla2
ReplyDelete"They are designed to kill people for protection--for SELF DEFENSE-" You obviously haven't fired a weapon before and never been in combat, these weapons are meant for war and NOT for protection. The Ak-47 was designed for WW2 for god sake, stop saying for "self-defense" haha. Self-defense weapons are handguns, shotguns and etc. But people who use Ak-47s are people who can't shoot for shit. Its a spray and hit type of weapon that's why they are popular with organize crime and third world country's with a shitty military, no training required expect pull the trigger.
KARMA!!!!! Do yall remember when border patrol killed that young mex guy???? wat goes around comes around....keep that in mind
ReplyDeletecom'on guys, the real problem lays with the old mighty buck. Regardles of the type of weapon they use, the horrendos demand for drugs in the US and other countries in the world will dictate the need for to find a way to supply it. Baning a certain type of weapon in the US will not change anything if they can get that gun easier anywere else in the world and probably cheaper. Drug cartels are smugling guns in from china through central america, most of them AK 47's just a small percent actually comes from the US, it is easier just to smugle ammo from the US. I for one would rather have an ak 47 for defense regardless for what it was designed. If spraying bullets is going to protect me so be it. By the way the AK 47 is one of the most accurate and best designed weapons in the history of guns.
ReplyDeleteThis is for the misinformed:
ReplyDeleteIn the United States a citizen can purchase many different types of rifles. Semi-automatic are most popular. These include the AK and all it's variations WASR,Romak etc. These rifles are SEMI-auto ONLY. That means 1 shot for each time the trigger is pulled. The AR family are also sold in this version as well. In order for a US citizen to purchase a FULLY AUTOMATIC rifle he needs to jump through many hoops to get it. These are not typically sold a gun shows, not easily "straw purchased", cost thousands of dollars and additionally require a $200 BATF Tax Stamp. The fully automatic weapons are EXTREMELY REGULATED and there really aren't alot of fully auto rifles out there to be purchased. If any rifles from the US are crossing into Mx, they most likely are the semi auto versions because they are much cheaper. BTW these semi auto versions of the AK and AR family are NOT easily convertable to FULLY Automatic. The parts do NOT inter-change easily. Can a a good gunsmith with a good machine shop convert them in mexico? Posibly but it would not be easy. Don't let a foregrip,folding stock and a mean style fool you into thinking these rifles are all automatic. Cosmetic upgrades are easy to do. Internal conversions are very very difficult and time consuming. It's easier for the DTO's to import them from Central America or even directly from China etc. Also the USA does not have explosive material, grenades or any type of anti armor rockets or launchers available for sale to the public. So don't blame those on us either.
Cheers
I read all the post and am left with one question...how is it that the EU/UK ban on guns seems to work. They have crime, drugs, gangs (Russian, Israeli, Algerian, Nigerians, Thai and others) and human trafficking...and yes a few shooting from black market purchases. But all in all the murders due to drug crimes and ALL crimes stats are SO much lower. Mind you Europeans are just as fond of their drugs as Americans. The worst case I found was a rise in knifings. It seems that considering the murder stats in the states, trying an opposite approach to guns.......might be worth a thought. Yeah this generation might cringe at the thought. But consider that the next generation that is raised without guns will feel it is normal..meaning societies mentality towards not having guns. Just a thought. Cheers, Kay
ReplyDeleteWhat goes around comes around my husband was arrested and deported by hispanic officers and now im having a hard time taking care of my baby by my self alone I do not feel any compasion for the officers family my baby girl wont be able to see her dad back in the us for more then 10 years N my husband didnt do anything wrong he pay for something he didnt do some else made a mistake .
ReplyDelete