BREAKING NEWS

Report: Guns from US sting at Mexican crime scenes

WASHINGTON - At least 122 firearms from a botched US undercover operation have been found at crime scenes in Mexico or intercepted en route to drug cartels there, according to a Republican congressional report being issued on Tuesday.
Mexican authorities found AK-47 assault rifles, powerful .50 caliber rifles and other weapons in late 2009 that were later linked to the US sting operation to trace weapons going across the border to Mexico, the report said.
Guns from the program, dubbed "Operation Fast and Furious," also were found at the scene of the murder of a US Border Patrol agent in the border state Arizona last December. It is not clear if they were the weapons responsible for his death.
The sting has become an embarrassment for the Obama administration and its Justice Department, rather than a victory in cracking down on the illegal flow of drugs and weapons to and from Mexico.
It has also hurt ties with Mexico, which has been battling the violent cartels in a war in which thousands have died.