Gun Trafficking From Eastern Washington

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Story Published: Aug 18, 2009 at 6:30 AM PDT

By David Klugh

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YAKIMA -- Over the last few months, federal agents along with Yakima police gang and narcotics officers rounded up guns, cash, explosives and crooks.

All these arrests and seizures could have an international impact.

"I've never seen this many weapons in one room," said Yakima Police Chief, Sam Granato.

It's big business in Eastern Washington, particularly if you're selling, buying or making illegal drugs. And by the looks of the weapons in this display, bigger even than local police may have previously thought.

This joint effort by YPD and The feds nabbed tens of thousands in cash, pipe bombs armed and ready to kill, and guns, from silencer equipped pistols to short barreled machine guns to camo-wrapped riot shotguns.

Getting this many weapons out of the hands of drug dealers and gangbangers is certainly a blessing for all of us here in Yakima. But when you come across something like this AR 50, a 50-caliber sniper rifle, you've got to wonder, just how big a blessing it is to police in Mexico?

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington State is the 4th leading exporter of guns to Mexico... a place where private ownership is illegal, and where the the most violent front in the war on drugs rages everyday.

Yakima City Council member Sonia Rodriguez knows it. "I think it's very naive of us not to consider that connection. I think part of the gang problem here is not just local gangs. It's part of a bigger criminal enterprise."

Gangbangers are just trying to make a buck. Where the guns go from here is irrelevant. For the chief and his officers, the reality of these busts gets even more terrifying. What you see here is just the excess, the expendable weapons to the gang or trafficker.

"If this is any indication of what is out there, you understand the tough job that law enforcement has in protecting this community from violence," expained the Chief.

For these agents, it's time to pack the guns away and plan the next raid in what is quickly proving to be an endless supply of deadly hardware.

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