Turf Battle Between ATF and ICE Undermines Cartel Gun Project

A broad-ranging federal initiative to block weapons being smuggled from the United States to drug cartels in Mexico is floundering due to bureaucratic turf battles, according to a Department of Justice report obtained by MSNBC.

Project Gunrunner is encountering "significant weaknesses" that "undermine its effectiveness," according to an inspector general's report obtained by MSNBC.

Here's an exerpt from the report:

In particular, the report found that ATF was failing to share intelligence about illegal gun trafficking with other U.S. law enforcement agencies, particularly the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ATF and ICE "do not work effectively" together, "rarely conduct joint investigations" or even notify each other about what cases they are working on - despite a high level Justice directive last year that they do so, the report states.

Read the full story at MSNBC.com.