Italian authorities seized a container full of weapons including Kalashnikov assault rifles and plastic explosives bound for the US from Saudi Arabia in May, Press reports said.
Il Mattino newspaper reported 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.
In addition to 70 AK-47 assault rifles and plastics used in explosives, the shipment also contained launch pads for rockets, it said.
An inquiry is under way with the participation of US secret services, said an AFP report.
The report could not be confirmed.
BUT this is weird…….. I remembered something like this from a long time ago, so is it the same story re-rerleased or a new one. weird.
AK-47s headed to U.S. had legal permits
By CURT ANDERSON
The Associated Press
4/28/2004, 3:13 p.m. CT
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S.-bound shipment of thousands of AK-47 assault rifles and other combat-type weapons, seized by Italian authorities who suspected they were being smuggled, actually have legal permits to be imported, American officials said Wednesday.
About 7,500 AK-47s, AKM rifles and other weapons worth an estimated $6 million were seized April 20 aboard a Turkish-flagged ship in the port of Gioia Tauro. They were bound for New York from Romania.
At the time, Italian authorities said the guns were hidden aboard the ship.
But Andrew Lluberes, spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the weapons actually were cleared by U.S. authorities. “The permits are valid,” he said.
Wild Thing’s comment…..
When it absolutely, positively needs to get there…..
Sorry I could not resist!
Wouldn’t you love to know who was going to pick them up here in the USA? And I wonder how many shipments they’ve missed.
I remember about 7 or 8 years ago, the Chinese shipped in a large number, 10,000 or more, AK 47s to the Port of Long Beach. That was when Long Beach Port was being considered for sale to Communist China.
Tom I had forgotten about that, thanks for reminding me.
Speaking of American Ports and Containers It
was said to-day that the Department of Homeland
security(oxy-moron) said they would need
1BILLION$$$$ YES 1 BILLION and five years to
develop a radiation scaner to scan all ships
comming into American ports…Why you ask is he
smacking on the D HL S..Why you ask,well let me
tell you!!! Sandia National Laboratories has built a scaner for 12,000.00 and has it on a
boat in San Francisco bay and damned if it cant
pin-point radiation from over a mile away, what were those dummys going to do for five years???
For the 1 billion how many scaners boats and crews could we have??? like the one,s
Sandia National Laboratories built….. do we
really need those people…I just wish America
would get its Cajones back!!!!
Left off a point, its been operating for 8
months now!!!!