U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) on Thursday announced she has filed a bill that would eliminate the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). One hour later in a spottily-attended press conference Greene angrily attacked President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, whom she falsely accused of allowing the U.S. southern border to be “wide open” to allow drug trafficking.
“President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are in business with the cartels,” Greene declared, lying to reporters. “They are in business with the criminals. Because their border policies, of ripping our southern border wide open is allowing the cartels to get rich beyond their wildest dreams, as they traffic humans and drugs across our border.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives works to target, investigate, and prosecute cartels that traffic in illegal guns – and drugs.
Earlier this month, for example, the Dept. of Justice published a press release announcing “Eight Members of Armed Drug Trafficking Organization Charged by Federal Indictment.”
“This case,” DOJ says, “was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, and the Lake City Police Department.”
The indictment charges “eight individuals in Florida with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute MDMA, also known as ‘ecstasy’ or ‘molly’, and α‑Pyrrolidinopentiophenone, also known as ‘alpha-PVP’ or ‘flakka.’ If convicted, each faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. The indictment also notifies the defendants that the United States intends to forfeit property that was used to facilitate the offense or that is traceable to proceeds of the offense, including approximately $185,000 in cash, a 2015 BMW 550i, a 2015 Lexus IS 250, a 2013 Audi A8 L Quattro, a 2020 Ryker Rally Edition motorcycle, two Rolex watches, numerous pieces of jewelry, and five firearms.”
It’s the forfeiture of the firearms that Greene has a problem with.
“I just introduced the bill to eliminate the ATF,” Greene says in her recorded video Thursday, during which she mispronounced the word “introduced.”
“The war on gun owners’ rights has been waged long enough and it’s time to stop it.”
Those eight individuals captured by federal authorities, including by the ATF, are U.S. citizens, gun owners, living and operating in Florida, who “were part of an armed drug trafficking organization that distributed illegal narcotics, primarily out of a ‘trap house’ on 14th Street in Jacksonville, beginning in July 2018 and continuing until April 13, 2021, when six of the defendants were arrested,” the DOJ statement says.
That investigation is far from the only one that makes Greene’s desire to eliminate ATF problematic if she actually is concerned about drug trafficking and cartels.
A few headlines:
“ATF targets gun dealers to stem sales to Mexican cartels.”
“Where do Mexican drug cartels get their guns? The US.”
“More than 36 pounds of drugs, guns seized in three month period,” revealing:
It is a joint effort– the Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team aims to stop the trafficking of illegal drugs in South Dakota, comprised of Pennington County Sheriff’s deputies and Rapid City Police officers, they work with the State Division of Criminal Investigations, Highway Patrol, and federal agencies like the DEA, ATF, and Homeland Security to fight illegal drug distribution, from the top down.
If Greene wants to get rid of illegal drugs getting rid of the agency that gets rid of illegal guns isn’t going to help.