The program was designed to provide data, fabricating a proof, for the longtime theory (since the Obama administration took office) that the US border states were responsible for arming the drug cartels and gangs in Mexico at a significant level.
The goal was to force the sales of these weapons to the cartels/gangs to show that this was happening in hopes of passing stricter gun control laws. Sounds pretty far fetched, huh?
2009 is, I believe, around the time the whole thing started. I recall seeing some interviews with some of the heads of the ATF on TV saying there was a "problem" at the boarder. The statistics they quoted at the time were shaky at best. The famous one being that "90% of all
traceable guns seized in Mexico were from the US.". But what they made it sound like was that 90% of ALL guns in Mexico were from the US. Turns out, that the 90% of TRACEABLE guns in Mexico is a insignificant amount.
Here is Obama laying the groundwork for Fast and Furious in 2009.
Obama Perpetuates The '90 Percent Of Mexico's Weapons Come From The U.S.' Lie -- In Mexico! - YouTube
I thought it was strange at the time that the ATF was giving interviews about US guns in Mexico when there didn't seem to be any cause. Especially when the big cartels have access to ports where they receive military weapons like RPG's, grenades, and fully-automatic weapons - guns that are not available over-the-counter in the US.
Furthermore, Fast and Furious involved some 2000 guns. Only 2 of them had GPS tracking devices on them. Obviously, an investigation on where the guns were going was not their objective.