Agents say they were told to step aside

WASHINGTON (AP):

Three federal firearms investigators told a House committee yesterday that they were repeatedly ordered to step aside while gun buyers in border state Arizona walked away with AK-47s and other high-powered weaponry headed for Mexican drug cartels in a risky United States law enforcement operation that went out of control.

Darrell Issa, a Republican, said leaders of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were fully aware of the details of Operation Fast and Furious, which was designed to track small-time gun buyers to major weapons traffickers along the Southwest border.

At a hearing before the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which Issa chairs, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said "hundreds upon hundreds of weapons" destined for cartels in Mexico were purchased in Arizona gun shops.

The operation was designed to respond to criticism that the agency had focused on small-time gun arrests while major traffickers eluded prosecution.

Operation Fast and Furious came to light after two assault rifles purchased by a now-indicted small-time buyer under scrutiny in the operation turned up at the scene of a shoot-out in Arizona, where Customs and Border Protection agent Brian Terry was killed.