The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed that a rifle recovered at a hideout of drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is part of the weapons smuggled into Mexico by Washington as part of the “Fast and Furious” operation.

In an official statement, the Assistant Attorney General Peter J. Kadzik said that a .50-caliber rifle found at the Los Mochis residence Guzman used shortly before his capture was found to be associated with the much maligned operation.

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In 2011 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were  in a scandal after it was released that its agents conducted illegal gun sales, believed to be destined for Mexican drug cartels, in order to track the sellers and purchasers.

“ATF accepts full responsibility for the flawed execution of Fast and Furious, and will continue to support Mexican law enforcement in efforts to recover and identify associated firearms,’’ the statement added. 

The operation resulted in an abrupt failure in which more than 1,400 weapons were lost by the ATF in Mexico. For their part, Mexican authorities have claimed they did not know about the operation but statements from U.S. agents involved in the scandal say the opposite.