A rifle discovered at the hideout of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in Mexico was reportedly funneled through the gunrunning program Operation Fast and Furious.
Fox News reported:
After the raid on Jan. 8 in the city of Los Mochis that killed five of his men and wounded one Mexican marine, officials found a number of weapons inside the house where Guzman was staying, including the rifle, officials said. When agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives checked serial numbers of the eight weapons found in his possession, they found one of the two .50-caliber weapons traced back to the ATF program, sources said. Federal officials told Fox News they are not sure how many of the weapons seized from Guzman’s house actually originated in the U.S. and where they were purchased, but are investigating.
Operation Fast and Furious allowed thousands of firearms across the U.S. border with Mexico, two of which were linked to the murder of an Arizona Border Patrol agent. Officials told Fox News that 34 of the approximately 2,000 weapons sold through the operation were .50-caliber rifles. The .50-caliber rifle has the ability to shoot down a helicopter.
Guzman, who escaped from a maximum security prison in Mexico last July, was caught this month, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto first announced on social media on January 8.
The news comes one day after a federal judge ruled that President Obama could not use executive privilege to block Congress from viewing records on Fast and Furious.