"Grenade-walking" part of "Gunwalker" scandal

(CBS News) 

There's a new twist in the government's "gunwalking" scandal involving an even more dangerous weapon: grenades.

"Gunwalking" subpoena for AG Holder imminent

CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson, who has reported on this story from the beginning, said on "The Early Show" that the investigation into the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)'s so-called "Fast and Furious" operation branches out to a case involving grenades. Sources tell her a suspect was left to traffic and manufacture them for Mexican drug cartels.

Police say Jean Baptiste Kingery, a U.S. citizen, was a veritable grenade machine. He's accused of smuggling parts for as many as 2,000 grenades into Mexico for killer drug cartels -- sometimes under the direct watch of U.S. law enforcement.

For more on this investigation, visit CBS Investigates.

Law enforcement sources say Kingery could have been prosecuted in the U.S. twice for violating export control laws, but that, each time, prosecutors in Arizona refused to make a case.

Grenades are weapons-of-choice for the cartels. An attack on Aug. 25 in a Monterrey, Mexico casino killed 53 people.

Sources tell CBS News that, in January 2010, ATF had Kingery under surveillance after he bought about 50 grenade bodies and headed to Mexico. But they say prosecutors wouldn't agree to make a case. So, as ATF agents looked on, Kingery and the grenade parts crossed the border -- and simply disappeared.

Six months later, Kingery allegedly got caught leaving the U.S. for Mexico with 114 disassembled grenades in a tire. One ATF agent told investigators he literally begged prosecutors to keep Kingery in custody this time, fearing he was supplying narco-terrorists, but was again ordered to let Kingery go.

The prosecutors -- already the target of controversy for overseeing "Fast and Furious," wouldn't comment on the grenades case. U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke recently resigned and his assistant, Emory Hurley, has been transferred. Sources say Hurley is the one who let Kingery go, saying grenade parts are "novelty items" and the case "lacked jury appeal."

Attkisson added on "The Early Show" that, in August, Mexican authorities raided Kingery's stash house and factory, finding materials for 1,000 grenades. He was charged with trafficking and allegedly admitted not only to making grenades, but also to teaching cartels how to make them, as well as helping cartel members convert semi-automatic rifles to fully-automatic. As one source put it: There's no telling how much damage Kingery did in the year-and-a-half since he was first let go. The Justice Department inspector general is now investigating this, along with "Fast and Furious."

[Woodpiggie1]

OK, go ahead and ban so called "assault weapons". Let's see how long it will take for the cartels (aka Mexican Government) to set up clandestine machine shops to crank out mucho AK 47 copies.

[Woodpiggie1]

OK, go ahead and ban so called "assault weapons". Let's see how long it will take for the cartels (aka Mexican Government) to set up clandestine machine shops to crank out mucho AK 47 copies.

[Vuky1]

Okay, let's start prosecuting people with grenade hulls bought from surplus stores. Get a grip. Of course not. No prosecutor would do this.

[JamesDean49]

I recall a slew of Democrats on TV whining about US guns in Mexico. How we had to have "tuffer" new gun laws that only they could pass.
Now we know how they knew. The Dems in Congress and the Dems in the Whitehouse have been sending them down there.
If I were to join the flea-bagger occupation I would more likely be upset about our gun-running President and ex-first lady than I would about a few crooked Wall Street jerks. Shows how progressively upside down the country has become since the real Reds took over the WhiteHouse.

[StewieMarmot]

It's good that sheep such as yourself are so easily misled, it makes stealing from you easy. Wall Street thanks you

[LonniJ]

Grenades, huh? That just puts a whole new slant on the fast and furious gunrunning rabbit trail! Using military weaponry to aid cabals isn't just for show...it's a declaration of war! I'm surprised Mexico isn't beating the war drum in response to this but, I guess, they are using up all of their time and resources just to fight the cabals and don't have enough left over to take on the US. Now we know why the border hasn't been closed and secured. And so does Obama, Hillary and Holder and Napalitano. Just another step in the formation of the North American Union.....and that Bush did start with his Security and Prosperity Act. Man, oh Man!

[Ti22]

probably because Calderon was in the loop on this. Remember he came to the US congress and news shows not long ago touting the so-called flow of guns into Mexico through US gun shops. His protests now seem very artificial and coordinated. He was doing this just as the obama gun-runner scheme started in motion.
There is supposedly a lot of news coverage about gun-runner in mexico I've heard, but next to zero has been said about that in the USA media (well, some networks hardly even make any mention about gun-runner at all to this day).

so not only will this (hopefully) bring down this corrupt regime, but maybe the mexicans will get a leader who will face down and destroy the drug cartels (and their hezbollah helpers).

[1Paloma]

I guess Hillary had a hankering for the good old days, when Mena, Arkansas was CIA central for dope/arms smuggling operations. The Dept. of Commerce allegedly ran the money laundering operations through their Economic Development Authority, Barry Seal set up the routes and flight paths, etc... Colonel Terry Reed wrote about it in the book, "Compromised". The sordid tale goes from the Clinton Governor's office to the White House. I believe a main player, Dan Lasater, went to prison and then set up shop in Arizona. Lots of outstanding journalists have written about this: Robert Parry, Gary Webb, DEA agents - but Americans have a short memory so we have forgotten. While I know the DOJ has budget constraints, it seems pretty poor to use "no jury appeal" as an excuse to not prosecute someone running grenades/arms to drug cartels in Mexico. It is more likely that the CIA's involvement in matters was the deciding factor. We do not, after all, prosecute any of those @#$? regardless of how many laws they break on US soil. In 2002 we had a DIA linked individual working with CIA and local law enforcement in a matter where nearly every Civil Rights violation that can be broken was....including data mining and destruction of evidence in order to cause a False Prosecution. This was a gimme for the US Attorney's office in Minneapolis but they not only chose to ignore it, but they chose to allow the harassment to continue and allowed distribution of pornographic material made without the knowledge or consent of the targeted individual(s). I believe failure to turn porn over to the cops got a KC priest charged recently, but in this case, the porn was made FOR police. Theft of personal items from inside a home, by law enforcement (filmed by homeowner hidden camera's), and a later attempted murder were all ignored. In 2006 an aid to a Congressman filled in one of the gaps as to why the DOJ would allow all of this - dope and money laundering of narcotics proceeds from a law enforcement protected smuggling operation. This is just another day for the US government and the sleazy operatives we create and never hold accountable.

[jayz1943]

The Justice Department inspector general is now investigating this, along with "Fast and Furious."

Hmmm...so the Justice Department, who Eric Holder heads, is investigating itself?!

[elfsysop]

The shear number of lies and liars in this administration is staggering. The proof is in the fact that even CBS now has a reporter brave enough to investigate the lies and liars. The worlds biggest liar is the federal reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, who lied under oath that he was not monetizing the US debt. Then you have Eric Holder, Barak Obama, and layer upon layer of administrative staff. Keep up the good work CBS. Maybe some day you can get your ratings back to a respectable level in investigative journalism, unlike the DNC owned and operated propaganda arm of the Obama administration; NBC. ABC, MSNBC, CNN, NPR, the NYT, Washington Post, etc. etc.

[RA0725]

Just another example of this administrations policies. The end justifies the means. The "end" being curtailing or abolition of the 2nd Ammendment.

[huskydog1963]

The case "lacked jury appeal" is that a code word that "Jean Baptiste" is of non-european heritage?