Gun trafficking is a "huge problem" in New Jersey, according to state law enforcement officials, and it's one they've been throwing plenty of resources at to combat.
A bipartisan group of senators has reached a deal on legislation that would for the first time create specific federal prohibitions on gun trafficking and the straw purchasing of firearms.
The Justice Department's internal watchdog is faulting the agency for misguided strategies, errors in judgment and management failures during a bungled gun-trafficking probe in Arizona that resulted in hundreds of weapons turning up at crime scenes in the U.S. and Mexico.
It began in March 2012 and targeted illegal firearm sales in Trenton. As a result, the New Jersey State Police Weapons Trafficking Unit in conjunction with the Trenton Police Department arrested eight people on gun related charges during an investigation dubbed "Operation Gravedigger."