Mystery deepens over diverted AK-47s

Miami Herald ^ | June 14, 2002 | JUAN O. TAMAYO jtamayo@herald.com

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump! Check out Post #7 too.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

Thank you for the photo. Those knives are really INCREDIBLE!!!

[hchutch]

I sure hope somebody gives the guys who pulled this off a pat on the head. Maybe we can talk `em into working for CIA until we cn get a REAL operation directorate.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

It will be hard to find out who did it. Everyone is looking around saying, not me. There are so many players, it's hard to follow the war.

[Tailgunner Joe]

bttt

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

"The police never arranged to acquire these arms," Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso assured journalists.

Didn't you tell me the police chief was involved with gun running?

Yes, I did. Panama newspapers are censored from pointing the finger outright. Reporters are threatened with jail if they cross that line. Foreign reporters have been kicked out the country for saying too much. There is no doubt the police chief is mixed up in this. By the way, he used to work for Noriega.

[archy]

Ayo Ghorkhali!

I've carried and used Kukris [or Khukuris, if you prefer a spelling a bit closer to the Nepalese pronunciation] since my first run-in with members of the British Army of the Rhine's Gurkha troops on the East German/Czech border with West Germany in the 1960s. The knives are not only practical and beautifully efficient, but are a historic item and artifact themselves, as much as an ancestor's sword or rifle, whether carried on frontline duty where history was made or less well-known locales where others did their duties. And, of course, the Khukuris are still going to war today.

My own generally follows thwe MK43 WWII wartime pattern, though my sheath/scabbard is arranged a bit differently.

[archy]

I love the Ghurka Kukris, and think they are the best knives anywhere in the planet! Hands down!

They do grow on you....

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

Thank you for sharing with us those photos. What a beautiful collection. May I have one? (just kidding! just kidding!) Thanks again.

[archy]

You can pick up a pretty fair Khukri from Atlanta Cutlery for around $25, or an excellent Nepalese-made import from Ghurkha House or Himalayan Imports at around $100. If you like something a bit more Americanized, check out the very handsome rubber-handled versions made in the USA by Lynn Thompson's Cold Steel firm. And though not a traditional Khukuri, the Becker Tool Machaxe is very much khukuri-derived and influenced.

Feel free to FReepmail me if you want additional info or sources, or if you're interested in the past and upcoming classes on the use of the Khukuri in Illinois and Ohio.

-archy-/-

[Robert357]

The freighter's Mexico-based owner, Trafalgar Maritime, recently closed its office in Panama. Police have not been able to question Trafalgar's owner nor the Otterloo's captain and other crewmen aboard the trip from Nicaragua to Turbo, all Mexicans.

Lets see, 14 cargo containers 20 ft long each filled with AK-47's with a strong Mexico connection, a shipment of cyanide stolen in Mexico, Al-Quida saying it is going to kill lots of Americans soon...... hmmmmmm, probably nothing to be worried about, just Central American drug lords.