US Mayor, Top Cop Busted in Mexican Gun Scheme

Feds: Officials plotted to sell 200 guns to drug cartels
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 11, 2011 1:31 AM CST
US Mayor, Top Cop Busted in Mexican Gun Running
Columbus, NM, Police Chief Angelo Vega has been arrested by federal agents in an alleged plot to smuggle weapons to Mexican drug cartels.   (AP Photo/Bill Faulkner)

The police chief, mayor, and other officials of the small New Mexico border town of Columbus have been charged with gun running; prosecutors say they planned sell some 200 guns to Mexican drug cartels. The officials "increased the risk of harm that the people of Columbus face every day by allegedly using their official positions to export firearms to Mexico," said a statement from prosecutors. Mexico President Felipe Calderon has pleaded with the US to do more to stem the flow of illegal arms to his country. The defendants are to appear in court today, reports the BBC. (More New Mexico stories.)

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