The recently discovered ATF project, “Operation Castaway” operated parallel to “Fast and Furious” under the ATF’s “Project Gunrunner”, which fed weapons to gangs in Honduras, as reported by the Daily Caller.

During the “Fast and Furious” operation, agents of the Arizona Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) purposefully sold guns to criminals associated with Mexican drug cartels, who then transferred the weapons to gangs. The idea was to then track the guns. Consequently, many ended up being used in crimes, including the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

“Recent reports have suggested that Project Gunrunner may not have been limited to weapons trafficking to Mexico, and that similar programs included the possible trafficking of arms to criminal gangs in Honduras with the knowledge of the ATF’s Tampa Field Division and the Department of Justice’s Middle District of Florida through an operation known as ‘Operation Castaway,'” the letter read.

Bilirakis stated that as a member of the House Committees on Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs, he finds it “troubling” that the U.S. government would “willfully allow weapons to be acquired by dangerous criminal and drug trafficking organizations in direct contravention to our strategic and national interests.”