Gun probe criticized after border killing

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- A federal gunrunning probe is being questioned after two rifles reportedly turned up at the scene where a Border Patrol agent was killed.

Whistle-blowers told the Washington Post agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives let guns be sold to straw buyers who transported them throughout the Southwest and into Mexico.

Investigators have not determined whether either of the AK-47s was used to kill Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in a gun battle Dec. 14 along the border southwest of Tucson. Four men were arrested, but no one has been charged in the killing.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has written to ATF acting Director Kenneth Melson that he has "serious concerns that the ATF may have become careless, if not negligent, in implementing the Gunrunner strategy."

The ATF has called Project Gunrunner successful in targeting gun-smuggling networks.

Last week, U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke announced the indictments of 34 people in five gun cases linked to the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico.