US says it nabs gunrunner arming Mexico drug gangs

PHOENIX, April 3 (Reuters) - U.S. police have arrested the alleged leader of a gunrunning ring supplying high-powered rifles and pistols to Mexican gangs battling for a key drug smuggling route, authorities said on Thursday.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said police nabbed Victor Varela, 23, in Tucson, Arizona, on Wednesday on charges that he fraudulently purchased .50 caliber rifles and other firearms through a confidential informant.

William Newell, the senior ATF agent in Phoenix, said the weapons were bound for cartels in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas.

"The quick action by ATF in this investigation exemplifies our commitment to cut off the illegal flow of firearms to violent criminals in the United States and Mexico," Newell said.

Late last month the Mexican government sent soldiers and heavily armed federal police to the gritty Mexican border city, where drug gangs locked in an all-out turf war have killed more than 200 people since January.

ATF said Varela acquired a number of firearms, including handguns and several .50 caliber "Barrett" rifles, through illegal third-party sales called "straw purchases."

The firearms were smuggled into Mexico through border crossings in Columbus, New Mexico.

Last year more than 2,500 people were killed in Mexico in violence related to drug gangs, many with firearms smuggled from the United States.

U.S. and Mexican authorities are working together to curb the trade. (Reporting by Tim Gaynor; editing by Mohammad Zargham)