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Tancos: stolen military hardware dumped in the countryside

ammoMilitary equipment, including grenades and high explosives, stolen from the military base at Tancos, Santarém, conveniently has turned up in the countryside not far away in Chamusca.

The material supposedly was found in the middle of an area of scrubland after an anonymous tip-off saw military police and GNR officers speeding to the site.

The 44 weapons, grenades and explosives were scattered around the area. The military police states that officers recovered the material at dawn on Wednesday 18th October, with the collaboration of the criminal investigation team of the GNR in Loulé, and that the dangerous haul already is under the protection of the Army.

The only items still to be accounted for is the cache of 9mm ammunition.  

The news of the disappearance of military material was made public by the Army on June 29th this year with the defence minister considering the situation "serious" but later deciding that as there were no signs of forced entry at the poorly guarded arms depot, an accounting error might mean that nothing had been stolen at all.

The minister tried to keep the list under wraps but it was soon published in a Spanish newspaper and widely available across Portuguese media and included

1,450 9 mm cartridges;
22 Wire coils for traction activation;
1 Decompression trigger;
24 Inert multidimensional lateral traction triggers;
6 CS / MOD M7 tear gas hand grenades;
10 Hand grenades of tear gas CM Anti-riot M / 968;
2 Hand Grenades of tear gas Triplex CS;
90 M321 offensive hand grenades;
30 M962 offensive hand grenades;
30 Offensive hand grenades M321;
44 Grenades 66mm antitank rockets with fuse;
264 PE4A plastic explosive units;
60 IKS primers;
30.5 Blades KSL (Blast blade.)

The possibility of the material still being in Portugal was one of the scenarios outlined by the police whose investigators, while suspecting that there was not much of a market for this sort of equipment within Portugal’s borders, said it could be hidden and sold off bit by bit.

This 'discovery' could rule out the involvement of highly organised terrorist groups or international arms dealers, according to many of Portugal's national news services.

As for the mysterious involvement of Loulé GNR in the recovery of the weapons, Natasha Donn  at The Resident takes a look:

'Mystery of Loulé GNR involvement in recovery of stolen military hardware'

 

 

 

https://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/1A51/production/_96773760_portugal.jpg

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Comments  

+6 #6 Valdo 2017-10-19 09:38
Yes it it is entirely credible (NOT) that someone went to the trouble and risk of stealing this equipment to then scatter it around some nearby scrub land.
The only surprising thing about this very convenient "discovery" is that it took the people responsible for the security of this equipment so long to think up such a farcical attempt at a face saving scenario.
+4 #5 Roger Taylor 2017-10-18 22:00
This is very convenient. The urgency to get a result - any result, as always, coming from the original event that made Portugal and its military look particularly feeble to the world. In this new EU Army - would you want your country to be allied to jokers like these?
With an entire Revolution faked we should all now be well aware of how much reality gets manipulated in Portugal, so there is no reason whatsoever to think that this is real news. That this entire stolen haul of armaments is now safely back under lock and key. Even if photos exist, a PR stunt would be child's play with some token equipment from elsewhere. Grenades are normally in ammo. boxes and even out of the box will be pretty similar from more than a metre away. So a PR stunt does not rule out the involvement of highly organised terrorist groups or international arms dealers actually taking away the gear in the first place.
+5 #4 Neil M 2017-10-18 21:02
Thankfully these items did not get into the wrong hands.
+2 #3 iand 2017-10-18 20:12
its like watching a Cheech and chong movie
+5 #2 Richard 2 2017-10-18 19:08
Thank goodness that these armaments and munitions have been recovered. The loss of the 9mm cartridges is far less concerning as these are commonly available EU
rounds and in most countries can be purchased over the counter.

The original theft was almost comic in highlighting the ineptitude of the Portuguese military. The fact that they were not even sure if a robbery had taken place or if it was just an accounting error does nothing to raise confidence.
+4 #1 Charly 2017-10-18 16:56
Next head to roll ....

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