Posted on 09/05/2018 6:31:40 AM PDT by marktwain
Another shipment of AK-47 type rifles was seized in the Arabian sea on August 27th, 2018. The dhow carrying the cargo was in distress. It was not under power or under sail. It had no papers from any nation-state. This seems to be fairly common in the area. The boarding team from the USS Jason Dunham found a thousand AK style rifles. No mention was made of ammunition or Rocket Propelled Grenades, another common small arm in the area. From navy.mil:
The skiff was determined to be stateless following a flag verification boarding, conducted in accordance with international law. Illicit cargo discovered by the Dunhams visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) team included over 1,000 weapons.The original source of the rifles was not known at this time. The intended customers have not been mentioned in any of the reporting found so far. The sailors from the distressed dhow were turned over to the Yemeni Coast Guard.
Our ship routinely conducts maritime security operations with our highly-trained VBSS team incorporating both on and off ship intelligence assets to help locate vessels, said Cmdr. John Hamilton, Dunhams commanding officer. Ensuring the free flow of commerce for legitimate traffic and securing the sea lanes of communication continue to be paramount to the U.S. Navy and its regional partners and allies, and I am proud of Jason Dunhams Sailors for accomplishing the mission.
Dunham located a dhow transferring covered packages to a skiff on Aug. 27. On Aug. 28, Dunham conducted a flag verification boarding and determined the skiff to be a stateless vessel. Subsequently, the boarding team discovered a cache of over 1,000 AK-47 automatic rifles.
The skiffs engines were inoperable, and the distressed mariners were brought aboard Dunham as part of a safety-of-life-at-sea (SOLAS) operation. The mariners were evaluated by the ships medical personnel and were uninjured.
MANAMA, Bahrain (NNS) -- For the third time in recent weeks, international naval forces operating in the waters of the Arabian Sea seized a shipment of illicit arms March 28, which the United States assessed originated in Iran and was likely bound for Houthi insurgents in Yemen.There is an interesting 2+ year gap in reported seizures of AK-47 rifles in the Arabian sea. The confiscation in 2018 happened because the dhow's engines failed. The engine failure should be a rare occurrence.
The U.S. Navy Coastal Patrol ship USS Sirocco, operating as part of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, intercepted and seized the shipment of weapons hidden aboard a small, stateless dhow. The illicit cargo included 1,500 AK-47s, 200 RPG launchers and 21 .50 caliber machine guns.
(snip)
The Royal Australian Navy's HMAS Darwin intercepted a dhow Feb. 27, confiscating nearly 2,000 AK-47 assault rifles, 100 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 49 PKM general purpose machine guns, 39 PKM spare barrels and 20 60mm mortar tubes.
A March 20 seizure by the French Navy destroyer FS Provence yielded almost 2,000 AK-47 assault rifles, 64 Dragunov sniper rifles, nine anti-tank missiles and other associated equipment.
They were on their way to Chicago?
A shipment like that needs to end up in Venezuela to help topple Maduro.
“A shipment like that needs to end up in Venezuela to help topple Maduro.”
Now that is a great idea!
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