Word: atf
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Last week the charade ended with an explosion of headlines, as Customs and ATF agents arrested seven people for illegal gunrunning. U.S. Attorney Michael Yamaguchi described the sting operation as the largest seizure of fully operational automatic weapons in U.S. history. The diplomatically sensitive source of the guns: two state-owned arms manufacturers in China, Poly Technologies and Norinco. The president of Poly Technologies, a defense corporation controlled by the People's Liberation Army, is He Ping, the son-in-law of Deng Xiaoping...
...District Court last week, Hipple helped Ku smuggle in 20,000 machine-gun stands. Ku then told the agent to fax his weapons wish list to Ku's secretary, using code words: "apples" for automatic weapons; "Alpha Kings" for AK-47s; "poppers" for grenades. Later a Florida ATF agent was introduced to Ku as an arms dealer interested in machine guns. Eventually the undercover team negotiated an order for 2,000 AK-47s. They paid Ku and his associates $700,000 in cash and wire transfers to Beijing and Hong Kong bank accounts...
...officials say the two are leaders of the 15-member Georgia Republic Militia and have charged them with conspiracy and possession of unregistered explosives devices. The two had plans to assemble the explosives this weekend and conceal them in members homes until the day 'the war' begins, said Stern. ATF agents arrested the men after discovering bomb-making materials during a house raid in rural Crawford County, Georgia. "They appear to be what the ATF calls 'bubbas'," says TIME's Elaine Shannon. "One is a plumber and the other is an electrician. They call themselves a militia, but organized militias...
...ATF should have been disbanded as soon as the Congressional committees determined just how much blood was on the agency's hands...
...perhaps, if the FBI proves it can handle a standoff and negotiate a conclusion, the federal government will see the light. If the ATF is seen as both useless and vicious, maybe the U.S. will finally have a law-enforcement branch that deserves our trust...