Agent: I was ordered to let U.S. guns into Mexico

(CBS News) 

WASHINGTON - Federal agent John Dodson says what he was asked to do was beyond belief.

He was intentionally letting guns go to Mexico?

"Yes ma'am," Dodson told CBS News. "The agency was."

An Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms senior agent assigned to the Phoenix office in 2010, Dodson's job is to stop gun trafficking across the border. Instead, he says he was ordered to sit by and watch it happen.

Investigators call the tactic letting guns "walk." In this case, walking into the hands of criminals who would use them in Mexico and the United States.

Sharyl Attkisson's original "Gunrunner" report

Center for Public Integrity report

Dodson's bosses say that never happened. Now, he's risking his job to go public.

"I'm boots on the ground in Phoenix, telling you we've been doing it every day since I've been here," he said. "Here I am. Tell me I didn't do the things that I did. Tell me you didn't order me to do the things I did. Tell me it didn't happen. Now you have a name on it. You have a face to put with it. Here I am. Someone now, tell me it didn't happen."

Agent Dodson and other sources say the gun walking strategy was approved all the way up to the Justice Department. The idea was to see where the guns ended up, build a big case and take down a cartel. And it was all kept secret from Mexico.

ATF named the case "Fast and Furious."

Surveillance video obtained by CBS News shows suspected drug cartel suppliers carrying boxes of weapons to their cars at a Phoenix gun shop. The long boxes shown in the video being loaded in were AK-47-type assault rifles.

So it turns out ATF not only allowed it - they videotaped it.

Documents show the inevitable result: The guns that ATF let go began showing up at crime scenes in Mexico. And as ATF stood by watching thousands of weapons hit the streets... the Fast and Furious group supervisor noted the escalating Mexican violence.

One e-mail noted, "958 killed in March 2010 ... most violent month since 2005." The same e-mail notes: "Our subjects purchased 359 firearms during March alone," including "numerous Barrett .50 caliber rifles."

Dodson feels that ATF was partly to blame for the escalating violence in Mexico and on the border. "I even asked them if they could see the correlation between the two," he said. "The more our guys buy, the more violence we're having down there."

Senior agents including Dodson told CBS News they confronted their supervisors over and over.

Their answer, according to Dodson, was, "If you're going to make an omelette, you've got to break some eggs."

There was so much opposition to the gun walking, that an ATF supervisor issued an e-mail noting a "schism" among the agents. "Whether you care or not people of rank and authority at HQ are paying close attention to this case...we are doing what they envisioned.... If you don't think this is fun you're in the wrong line of work... Maybe the Maricopa County jail is hiring detention officers and you can get $30,000 ... to serve lunch to inmates..."

"We just knew it wasn't going to end well. There's just no way it could," Dodson said.

On Dec. 14, 2010, Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was gunned down. Dodson got the bad news from a colleague.

According to Dodson, "They said, 'Did you hear about the border patrol agent?' And I said, 'Yeah.' And they said 'Well it was one of the Fast and Furious guns.' There's not really much you can say after that."

Two assault rifles ATF had let go nearly a year before were found at Terry's murder.

Dodson said, "I felt guilty. I mean it's crushing. I don't know how to explain it."

Sen. Grassley began investigating after his office spoke to Dodson and a dozen other ATF sources -- all telling the same story.

Read Sen. Grassley's letter to the attorney general

The response was "practically zilch," Grassley said. "From the standpoint that documents we want - we have not gotten them. I think it's a case of stonewalling."

Dodson said he hopes that speaking out helps Terry's family. They haven't been told much of anything about his murder - or where the bullet came from.

"First of all, I'd tell them that I'm sorry. Second of all, I'd tell them I've done everything that I can for them to get the truth," Dodson said. "After this, I don't know what else I can do. But I hope they get it."

Dodson said they never did take down a drug cartels. However, he said thousands of Fast and Furious weapons are still out there and will be claiming victims on both sides of the border for years to come.

Late tonight, the ATF said it will convene a panel to look into its national firearms trafficking strategy. But it refused to comment specifically on Sharyl's report.

Statement from Kenneth E. Melson, Acting Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives:

"The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) will ask a multi-disciplinary panel of law enforcement professionals to review the bureau's current firearms trafficking strategies employed by field division managers and special agents. This review will enable ATF to maximize its effectiveness when undertaking complex firearms trafficking investigations and prosecutions. It will support the goals of ATF to stem the illegal flow of firearms to Mexico and combat firearms trafficking in the United States."

[AlaskaJohn]

Americans should be able to walk down to the border and shoot a couple of Mexicans before breakfast. In fact, it should legal to shoot every member of La Raza.

[ParasiteHunter]

Wow, congratulations CBS. Only a year latter and you have already learned to read, use the internet AND found BigGovernment.com to get on board with the Gun Runner treason. It really must be panic time for the left. You at CBS, ABC,NBC,MSNBC and the rest of the White House propaganda department are pathetic. And Doomed!!!!!!!

[teapartyoftx]

Obama's job is to prepare the US and Mexico to form the NAU, the collapse of the US economic and the building of chaos in Mexico to create an exodus of Mexicans into the US, that is why he refused to enforce our immigration laws and voided the immigration laws-given orders to the US Dept. of Justice not to prosecute illegal aliens, this Obama administration is involve in clandestine traffic of arms to Mexico drug cartels and working with the drug cartels to flood our country with drugs to destroy our culture and values, all this is not report by the News Media and the politicians are silents and keep the American people ignorant of the actions of this corrupt government.

[hypnotoad72]

Like it wasn't Bush II's, Clinton's, Bush I's, Reagan's, and/or ________'s?

Besides, most people around here cheered when Mexico took all all the jobs Ford let over the border (even though the same people haven't realized the net effect once every company does the same thing but expects the demand-side to still have money...)

[Lubricano]

They used to call me Greaser but that was not politically correct
I like my new PC handle much better. Have you ever watched Telemondo
or any of the TV from Mexico. The people on Mexican TV are not the squatty bodies that have invaded the USA without firing a shot except
to shoot a few Border Patrol Agents. This could be Mac-Daddys Watergate
I'm hoping. Also have you looked at CBS News Hot topics-Immigration,Gay
Marriage,Foreclosures. 20 years ago who would have thought.

[aeronautic1]

Just wait. Obama will use this debacle to clamp down on all gun ownership on the US.

[ParasiteHunter]

That was the entire idea behind the program. If you had been reading BigGovernment.com for the last year you would have known that a year ago. Don't expect to get the truth, the facts or even current information from CBS or any other main stream media. Fox has carried the story too but not enough.

[hypnotoad72]

I prefer www.ontheissues.org or www.politifact.com...

[dbradd98]

Man, I pray you are wrong, but in my heart, I have a lousy feeling, their is a possibility something this F'd upped is true!
Thanks for posting!

[onefeather2]

Typical of our corrupt government. why is anyone surpised.

[Kailio1]

I would like to submit to all political factions that it is probably wise to find out why these firearms were allowed to walk into Mexico and kill people, including a U.S. Border Patrol agent. This may be just a program of gov't stupidity, or it may after investigation be determined that more sinister goals, not unlike Watergate, were being formulated. At any rate, the truth needs to be investigated and brought to fruition for the peace of mind of all citizens due the tragic and serious consequences of the cognitive decision to proceed with this program. Anyone who cannot agree with this is clearly blinded by political fanaticism.

[slatep]

ONE MORE TIME.!!!

Obama ordered these guns to go into Mexico because he has an agreement with Mexico and Canada that will allow Mexican and Canadian troops to come into the US in the event of out of control civil unrest here in the US.

The reasoning behind this agreement is that; in the event of civil unrest here in the US; our troops would not fire on their own people.

This agreement was supposed to be a secret, however now that the "gun walking" secret is out, Obama has to blame somebody else (a very undesirable trait that seems to be a habit of his) he is dumping the blame on the ATF.

It's as simple and uncomplicated as that.

If you don't believe me; maybe you should watch the show Conspiracy Theory starring Jesse Ventura complete with video pictures.

[rosasjo]

My long long pal (Paul Simon's Song) thank you after all these weeks that this article came out I still been rcvng replies......1st of all....Who is you information source????..Agreement to introduce thousands of thousands of powerful weapons that up to this point almost 50 thousadn lives wheter good or bads have perish, since Calderon took power in 2006... Becouse of this US, made guns and not russians, or chinnise, etc....This is a huge issue, that milions of US citizens, see and consider our country of terrorist...lol, The druglords are figthing among them to gain control of the plaza and drug routes..And all for what....to smuggle all sort of drugs to the US,,,Our country armed forces are sure dealaing with these drug gangs that are being supply frmo who knos who in the State with thousands of these, once agin US made guns....Sorry if I dont belive in your US-Mexico-canada "Agreement"

[PotomacHighlander]

This is just another in a long string of examples of our current preident's inability to govern. The White House nor the Department of Justice are places where on the job training is wise. I'm sure there was an ulterior motive, most likely new stricter gun laws, but amazingly a criminal act was committed by one of the criminals the cartel issued one of these guns to. The things are so pleniful that the murderers are just throwing the weapons down after they kill with them. There is no way that Eric Holder and our Fearful Leader did not know about every aspect of this operation that allowed guns fromthe States across the border into a neighboring country without them having been informed. Many could interpret this as an act of war. Kust another example of the arrogance that saturates this floundering administration.

[randomgrammar17]

A little grammar check on " a drug cartels." Its not plural but singular watch out next time. And while I am here I think this is a big issue as well. And guess what drug cartel activity is all the way up in Alaska. Now this is getting serious.