A .50-caliber rifle recovered from the hideout of drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán is reportedly one of the firearms lost by the U.S. government’s gun-smuggling operation Fast and Furious.
Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) checked serial numbers of weapons recovered after the raid earlier this month on the Los Mochis house where Guzman was staying. They traced one of two rifles back to the ATF program, according to Fox News.
Federal officials are investigating how many weapons seized from the house originated in the U.S., sources told Fox News. The report noted that ATF agents lost track of 1,400 of the roughly 2,000 weapons it allowed suspects to buy in Arizona with the intent of tracking them.
Thirty-four of the weapons sold through Fast and Furious were .50-caliber rifles, sources told the news outlet, which reported that Guzman placed guards on hilltops to shoot down helicopters.
