DesignatedMarksman
21-08-2006, 04:11
70 AK47s is nothing. The explosives and launch pads are what really intrigues me. Of course, they're from Saudi Arabia, which is a bastion of PRO-US sentiment. The AKs are easily explained, however there does need to be some explanation for the rocket pads and explosives.....
The radar beeped a little. Italy did the same thing in 2004 with a boatload of legal US-bound AKMs made in Romania by Century arms international, IIRC.
Italy reports seizing US-bound arms shipment
AFP
Sunday, August 20, 2006
ROME, Italy (AFP) - Italian authorities seized a container full of weapons, including Kalashnikov assault rifles and plastic explosives bound for the United States from Saudi Arabia in May, press reports said yesterday.
Il Mattino newspaper said that the "arsenal" was discovered during a search of a ship registered to an unnamed ex-Soviet republic, which was travelling from Saudi Arabia to the US east coast.
It was boarded by customs officials in the port of Gioia Tauro in the southern Calabria region. They discovered more than 70 AK-47 assault rifles, plastics used in explosives and launch pads for rockets, the daily said.
Without quoting its sources, the Ansa news agency later reported that "the shipment was permitted, but certain papers were missing from the accompanying documents".
It said that the container could continue its journey as soon as the identification documents had been validated.
An inquiry is under way with the participation of US secret services, Il Mattino said.
The radar beeped a little. Italy did the same thing in 2004 with a boatload of legal US-bound AKMs made in Romania by Century arms international, IIRC.
Italy reports seizing US-bound arms shipment
AFP
Sunday, August 20, 2006
ROME, Italy (AFP) - Italian authorities seized a container full of weapons, including Kalashnikov assault rifles and plastic explosives bound for the United States from Saudi Arabia in May, press reports said yesterday.
Il Mattino newspaper said that the "arsenal" was discovered during a search of a ship registered to an unnamed ex-Soviet republic, which was travelling from Saudi Arabia to the US east coast.
It was boarded by customs officials in the port of Gioia Tauro in the southern Calabria region. They discovered more than 70 AK-47 assault rifles, plastics used in explosives and launch pads for rockets, the daily said.
Without quoting its sources, the Ansa news agency later reported that "the shipment was permitted, but certain papers were missing from the accompanying documents".
It said that the container could continue its journey as soon as the identification documents had been validated.
An inquiry is under way with the participation of US secret services, Il Mattino said.