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<p>April 22, 2004 -- A Florida-based arms company is at the center of the international probe into a New York-bound ship seized in Italy while laden with thousands of Kalashnikov assault rifles, The Post has learned.</p> <p>The AK-47s were apparently bound for Vermont.</p>

<p>ROME (AP) -- Authorities in southern Italy seized about 7,500 Kalashnikov assault rifles and other combat-grade firearms from a ship headed for New York, officials said Tuesday.</p> <p>The weapons - AK-47s, AKM rifles and machine guns worth more than $6 million - were found mixed in with properly labeled guns in cargo containers on board a Turkish-flagged ship that docked at the port of Gioia Tauro, a police official said.</p>

<p>April 21, 2004 -- A Turkish ship headed for New York - and stuffed with thousands of Kalashnikov assault rifles and AK-47s - was seized en route in Italy, authorities said yesterday.</p> <p>The ship's deadly hoard of more than 7,500 terrorist-grade rifles and machine guns worth more than $6 million was discovered illegally hidden under piles of properly labeled arms in several massive cargo containers, Italian officials said.</p>

FALLUJAH, Iraq ---- Without firing a shot or shedding any blood, Marines struck a huge blow to the insurgency on Monday when they uncovered a sizeable cache of heavy weapons in a roughneck neighborhood in northwest Fallujah. Lance Cpl. Patrick Larson, 21, of Gowrie, Iowa, discovered the secret stash just before sunset on a drizzly, cold day while he was setting booby traps near some brick stables where he and other Marines had chased a grenade-toting rebel the night before. He said he and fellow Marines Lance Cpl. Gene Rader, 21, of Marlton, N.J., and Lance Cpl. Jason Picchi, 21,...

Authorities search for weapons at warehouse near Oakland airport The Associated PressLast Updated 9:33 am PDT Saturday, April 17, 2004SAN LEANDRO, Calif. (AP) - Dozens of federal, state and local law enforcement agents continued to search a warehouse near Oakland International Airport Saturday, looking for items that included devices used to launch rockets from vehicles, officials said. The raid began around 6 a.m. Friday at the sprawling complex in San Leandro. About 200 agents from a dozen different agencies participated in the operation, which was a joint investigation by the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 April 16, 2004Release Number: 04-04-15 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MARINES UNCOVER SIGNIFICANT WEAPONS CACHE CAMP FULLUJAH, Iraq -- Marines in Fallujah April 16 discovered a significant weapons cache and engaged enemy forces after coming under fire. Marines discovered a large weapons cache in a two-story home in Fallujah and another on the edge of a wheat field. Marines recovered the following from the house:One AK-47 with two full magazinesOne surface-to-air missile launcher with one missile From the wheat field, Marines found:One...

ALBU SHUKUR, Iraq — In a shady orchard, along a rutted country lane, the men of “Charlie Rock” did a little digging and discovered weapons meant to kill them. The haul included a Russian-made machine gun, 146 mortar rounds, detonating cord, bomb-making materials and rocket-propelled grenade heads. It was found about three miles from Logistical Support Area Anaconda — the former Balad Air Base — home to some 15,000 U.S. troops and the target of frequent mortar attacks. “They were definitely firing mortars out of this field,” said Capt. Matthew Archambault, commander of Charlie Company of the 1st Battalion, 26th...

Sunday, March 14, 2004 Task Force 1-77 finds 1st big cache By Steve Liewer, Stars and StripesEuropean edition, Sunday, March 14, 2004 Steve Liewer / S&S A Bradley fighting vehicle follows a squad from Company C, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment down a rutted lane Friday in search of weapons and bomb-making material. Two caches were found in orchards within a few hundred feet of where the soldiers are shown patrolling in Albu Shakur, Iraq, near the city of Balad. Steve Liewer / S&S 1st Lt. Scott Gilman, left, 24, of Decatur, Ill., and Sgt. 1st Class Brian Frey, 34,...

Sgt. Jimmy Hacker, 3rd Platoon, 82nd Airborne Division Military Police Company, and Jamal, translator, attach a winch cable to a 127mm rocket launcher system to pull it out of a marsh Feb. 9 in a farming area approximately 25 miles west of Baghdad International Airport. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Michael J. Carden Soldiers Employ Detective Know-HowIn Finding Anti-Coalition Weapons By U.S. Army Spc. Michael J. Carden / 82nd Airborne Division AL KARMA, Iraq - For several weeks, the 82nd Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team has been searching to confiscate the many improvised rockets used to attack Coalition...

Squadron cleans bomb dump, makes area safeby Senior Master Sgt. Gene LaDoucer506th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs 2/12/2004 - KIRKUK AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Munitions airmen are generally proud to tell people they work in the “bomb dump,” the endearing term often used to describe a base’s munitions storage area. An exception, however, might be when the dump is, well, a dump. Upon surveying the weapons storage area upon their arrival here in November, airmen of the 355th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron munitions flight quickly saw that a dump is what they had -- an expansive area of land that had become a...

Albanian police have seized a large quantity of arms and ammunition in a village near the border with neighboring Montenegro, the Interior Ministry said yesterday. The arms and ammunition, including some 300 kilos (660 lbs) of explosive, were seized in the village of Grud Fushe, only several miles from the border with Serbia-Montenegro late Monday, the ministry said. The owner of the house where the ammunition was found, Sokol Preci, 47, was arrested, as well as his brother Vitor and a policeman suspected of being an accomplice in arms and drugs trafficking. (AFP)

Jan 31, 8:29 AM ESTDeadly Afghan Blast Likely an AccidentBy STEPHEN GRAHAMAssociated Press Writer KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- An arms dump blast that killed eight American soldiers was likely an accident, the U.S. military said Saturday, releasing the first results of an investigation into its worst ever loss of life here.The soldiers died Thursday when a cache of mortar rounds and rifle ammunition discovered near Ghazni, about 90 miles southwest of Kabul, exploded.Military spokesman Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty said the soldiers were preparing the weapons for disposal when one or more of them detonated."There was a single pop and then...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 January 31, 2004Release Number: 04-01-76 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ARROWHEAD BRIGADE UNCOVERS TWO CACHES MOSUL, Iraq - Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) under the operational control of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) uncovered two caches during operations Jan. 30 in and around Mosul. Company A, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment uncovered a cache of weapons after an unknown number of enemy engaged a patrol with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades in northern Mosul....

US fears Afghan blast booby-trap A blast that killed seven US soldiers in Afghanistan may have been caused by a booby-trap, the US military says. The soldiers died while investigating a weapons cache in a village near Ghazni, east Afghanistan, on Thursday. There were signs the weapons dump was booby-trapped but an investigation was continuing, said US spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Brian Hilferty. The US has lost a number of troops while hunting militants in southern and eastern Afghanistan. This has been a costly week for both the coalition and for Isaf Colonel Hilferty said it was unclear how the men...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 January 21, 2004Release Number: 04-01-53 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT IN COALITION CUSTODY MOSUL, Iraq – Weapons and discarded Iraqi military equipment were turned in or discovered by soldiers of the 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade (Stryker), 2nd Infantry Division, attached to the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), in northern Iraq yesterday. Members of the Coalition for Iraqi National Unity, a concerned group of local citizens, turned in six rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 60 RPG rounds, 1,490 rounds...

First raids of 2004 not quite Mardi Gras BAQUBAH, Iraq — It wasn’t exactly the place for strings of beads and parade floats, but when they were done, Task Force Ironhorse Soldiers had something to celebrate. In the first Iraqi raids conducted by Coalition forces in the new year, Operation Sugar Bowl took 4th Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team into target areas identified as Bourbon Street, New Orleans and the French Quarter. Lining up their convoys at Camp Scunion just after midnight, the infantrymen, tankers and scouts had just enough time to wish each other a happy New Year...

  Large Weapons Cache Uncovered In AR Ramadi, 23 Detained RAMADI, Iraq – Members of Task Force “All-American” conducted cordon and search missions in western Ramadi last night to capture anti-Coalition forces identified in previous interrogations. In addition to the 23 personnel detained in the operations, two weapons caches, which were the largest found to date in Al Anbar province, were also captured. At the first site, Coalition Forces found: three SA-7 missiles, 105 rocket-propelled grenades, 125 RPG boosters, 16 RPG launchers, two RPG sights, two 14.5 mm anti-aircraft machine guns with 3,000 rounds, one Belgian 7.62 mm machine...

  Weapons Cache Found TIKRIT, Iraq – Scouts from the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment cordoned off an area southwest of Samarra, on a road to Lake Thar Thar, searching for a reported weapons cache in the afternoon of Jan. 13. The scouts raided a building, capturing one person. Additionally, they located and confiscated two complete 60-millimeter mortar systems, 11 mortar tripods, 11 mortar base plates, seven 82-millimeter mortar tubes, 170 mortar rounds, 11 rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers, six RPG sights, four mortar sights, one pair of binoculars, one night sight, six orange smoke grenades, 11 hand- grenades, 17...

US troops have uncovered a substantial cache of weapons in an insurgency-hit city west of Baghdad after a local man led them to a house containing the arsenal, a statement said. The man showed troops a house in Ramadi, located in the so-called "Sunni triangle" and a focus of anti-coalition guerrilla activity linked to pro-Saddam Hussein elements. The statement said the haul included 33 anti-tank and 16 anti-personnel rocket propelled grenade rounds, in addition to 10 kilograms of high explosives, cash and communications gear. More than a dozen suspected rebels were also arrested by US 101st Airborne Division troops in...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 January 11, 2004Release Number: 04-01-22 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TF “ALL-AMERICAN” UNCOVERS CACHE WITH LOCAL HELP RAMADI, Iraq – Task Force “All-American” soldiers discovered a large weapons cache with the help of a local Iraqi civilian at approximately 9 p.m. Jan. 9. The man led them to a house in Ramadi where the following were found: 33 anti-tank and 16 anti-personnel RPG rounds, three RPG launchers, one crate of RPG propellant, 13 hand grenades, 40 fuses, a large quantity of small...