MILWAUKEE -- Several members of Congress are calling for an investigation into the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported this week that the agency conducted a flawed sting operation in Milwaukee.
The ATF ran a storefront operation intended to bust felons for drug and gun offenses, but the newspaper reported Wednesday that no major drug dealers or gang members were taken down. Also, the store was robbed of $35,000 in merchandise, an agent's machine gun was stolen and a document listing undercover agents was left behind. On Thursday, the Journal Sentinel reported that several members of Congress were demanding answers.
The 10-month sting operation involved buying guns and drugs from felons, sometimes at such a premium that defendants bought guns from gun shops and sold them to the agents for a quick profit.
The operation resulted in charges against about 30 people, mostly for low-level counts of drug sales and gun possession. But agents had the wrong person in at least three cases, including one in which they charged a man for selling drugs to them even though he was in prison at the time as a result of a previous ATF case.
"I have never heard of those kinds of problems in an operation," said Michael Bouchard, a retired ATF agent. "Sure, small bits and pieces, but that many in one case? I have never heard of anything like that."
ATF spokesman Special Agent Robert Schmidt declined to say how much
ATF's flawed sting efforts in Milwaukee draw ire - TwinCities.com
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