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Feds: Fort Worth a hub of cartel gun trade

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Published: Oct. 28, 2009 at 12:43 PM

FORT WORTH, Texas, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Federal investigators say a Mexican drug smuggling ring targeted in the United States this month also has been trafficking in guns.

Court documents filed in Texas allege members of "La Familia" used a slice of their drug profits to buy guns that were then smuggled into Mexico.

The transactions took place at parking lots and homes in the Fort Worth area and surrounding counties, and moved 30-50 weapons across the border every week, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Wednesday.

"Gun smuggling is not just a border problem," said Tom Crowley, a

spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. "They have comfort zones elsewhere where they operate that extend far from the border."

About 300 La Familia suspects were rounded up in 19 U.S. states last week; however, the complaints described Fort Worth as a key hub of the gang's gun business.

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

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