In Wake Of Fast And Furious, Are You Ready For Operation Castaway?

by William Teach | July 15, 2011 8:20 am

It may or may not be as big and bad, but, we’ll see if ATF and the DOJ stonewall Congress on it

Several lawmakers are questioning[1] the Obama administration about whether the controversial “Fast and Furious” gunrunning probe may have had a cousin in Florida that resulted in guns being trafficked to Central America.

Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., penned a letter Tuesday to Attorney General Eric Holder and ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson inquiring about a program known as “Operation Castaway.” Other top lawmakers are also starting to look into it, though ATF claims the program was above board and not similar to Operation Fast and Furious at all.

The Justice Department says Castaway was an anti-gun trafficking operation handled by an ATF division in Florida. It resulted last year in a slew of convictions for defendants the department claimed provided firearms linked to violent crimes around the world. But in light of questions surrounding the Fast and Furious probe out of ATF’s Phoenix division, Bilirakis questioned whether Castaway bore the same suspicious hallmarks.

He asked Holder and Melson whether “similar programs included the possible trafficking of arms to dangerous criminal gangs in Honduras with the knowledge of the ATF’s Tampa Field Division” and a Justice Department office, via Castaway.

Bilirakis’ letter specifically asked whether the Tampa division participated in a “gun walking” scheme allowing guns to go to Honduras. He also asked whether ATF or DOJ know if any of the firearms ended up in the hands of the “notorious” MS-13 gang — a violent gang spread across Central America, Mexico and the United States.

The ATF claims that everything was hunky dorey with Castaway, and that the operation was completed successfully with a few arrests. Isn’t that what they were saying before Operation Fast and Furious exploded in their faces? Should we be sending guns to criminals, gang-bangers, and other assorted scumbags in other countries? Yet, here in the USA, liberals and Team Obama want to restrict the legal sales of guns to legal Americans. Time will tell whether this will grow.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove[2]. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach[3].