Illegal firearm trafficking is inseparable from the illegal drug trade: Weapons are often bought with drug money, can strengthen cartels and can be traded for drugs.
In the spring of 2021, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, known as ATF, started a gun-trafficking investigation that ran from Idaho, down through California and into Mexico. The investigation uncovered a scheme to drive pounds of narcotics north, and some of their “white China” and black tar heroin were exchanged for guns that an Idaho Falls resident purchased out of a firearm seller’s garage.
