‘Fast and Furious’ gun sting may come up in Trump-AMLO meeting

(Bloomberg)—Ahead of a meeting between the leaders of the U.S. and Mexico, the Trump administration has responded to concerns raised by Mexico two months ago about a gun sting carried out during the administration of former President Barack Obama.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had requested information about the botched U.S. operation known as Fast and Furious, which led to deaths south of the border. Lopez Obrador said in May he wants to know if the previous U.S. administration had kept his country informed about the operation, or if there was a “violation of our sovereignty.”

Fast and Furious was an operation conducted a decade ago in which U.S. agents had allowed guns to enter the Latin American nation with the goal of tracking Mexico’s brutal drug gangs. But the agents lost track of the guns, which ended up being used in cartel executions.

The U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Christopher Landau, confirmed that his government responded on Monday, but declined to provide further details. The timing of the response increases the odds that the issue could come up during today’s meeting between Lopez Obrador and U.S. President Donald Trump and be used as a way to take a political jab at former Vice President Joe Biden, Trump’s opponent in November’s presidential election.

“There was a response,” Landau said, answering a question from Mexican reporter Dolia Estevez who posted the video interview on Twitter. “It speaks for itself.”

The White House declined to comment, as did a U.S. State Department spokesman.

A Mexican official who wasn’t authorized to speak on the record confirmed that Mexico received the response, which was handed over to the Attorney General’s Office.

Asked about Fast and Furious last week, Lopez Obrador’s spokesman Jesus Ramirez said that no topic was off the table at the meeting with Trump, although the main discussion would be about the new North American free trade treaty known as USMCA. He didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.