Santo Domingo.- .-The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,Firearms and Explosives (ATF) opened an investigation into gun trafficking fromMiami to the Dominican Republic.
US federal investigators are tracking the gunrunners in connection with eight assault rifles seized September 14 by Dominicanagents at Haina Oriental port, shipped through a courier company from Miami.
Miami ATF office Special Agent Jean MaeckBean heads the operations for the Caribbean region, according to Dominicanagencies cooperating in to the probe.
The US agency is looking into several companieswhich ship to the Dominican Republic whose authorities have reportedly seized 34firearms in less than 20 days, including 10 assault rifles (AR 15, M-4, M-16and Fal), five hunting rifles, over 40,000 ammunition and dozens of pieces of militarygear, smuggled inside boxes of food and in household items.
None of the weapons have serial numbers.
The ATF focuses its investigation on the shippingcompany Sandy Cargo Express, SRL, which transported from Miami the merchandisewhere the guns were found, and more recently other small arms and ammo.