Phoenix dealer charged with supplying weapons to Mexico drug insurgents

ABC News:

Just hours after receiving a shipment of weapons allegedly intended for Mexican drug bosses, a Phoenix gun dealer and at least two alleged arms traffickers were arrested this morning in a series of raids by federal and local authorities. Authorities allege the gun dealer sold more than 650 AK-47-type assault weapons to Mexican drug gangs responsible for recent shootouts that have claimed dozens of lives.

"He knowingly, willingly sold these weapons, and he even gave our guys undercover tips on how to evade the police," Pete Forcelli, the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms supervisor on the case told ABC News. The gun dealer, George Iknadosian, 46, was arrested on numerous Arizona state charges, and all of the inventory in his shop was seized.

"We know of 650 assault weapons he sold," said Forcelli, a former New York Police Department Bronx homicide detective. "But by the time the case is done, it will be well over a thousand."

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"Let's be very clear here -- there's a war going on in Mexico right now, and innocent people are being caught in the crossfire, not to mention the hundreds of police officers being murdered," said Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms' Bill Newell, the special agent in charge of the Phoenix office. "When 90 percent-plus of the firearms recovered from these violent drug cartels are from a U.S. source, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to stem the illegal flow of these firearms to these thugs."

Those firearms -- including high-powered assault rifles and "cop killer" handguns -- are often bought through "straw purchasers" from legal gun dealers in California, Texas and Arizona. They are responsible for 95 percent of the gun violence in Mexico, U.S. and Mexican authorities have told ABC News' Brian Ross.

One of them, a Colt .38-caliber semi-automatic pistol traced back to X Caliber was tucked into the waistband of alleged Sinaloa drug cartel boss Alfredo Beltran Leyva when he was arrested in Mexico last January. The alleged cocaine dealer had $900,000 in cash in his possession when arrested along with two body guards, Mexican authorities said.

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This is a real break for law enforcement in Mexico. Many have been out gunned in their fight with the drug insurgents. Tracing the source of weapons traffic into Mexico appears to be as a result of cooperation between the two countries. That cooperation is currently being threatened by Democrats who are threatening to withhold aid to Mexico in its fight against the drug thugs. You have to ask whose side they are own.