U.S. Navy shares photos of enormous Arabian Sea weapons seizure

2021-05-10
15:35:19

U.S. Navy shares photos of enormous Arabian Sea weapons seizure

The U.S. Navy has shared photographs of an illicit arms shipment that it said it found aboard an intercepted ship in the Arabian Sea.

The images, taken Saturday, showed thousands of weapons laid out across the rear deck of the USS Monterey, part of the Navy’s 5th Fleet, which is headquartered in Bahrain.

In a statement, the 5th Fleet said the weapons included “dozens of advanced Russian-made anti-tank guided missiles” and “thousands of Chinese Type 56 assault rifles,” as well as hundreds of Kalashnikov machine guns, sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

The weapons were found during a routine flag verification check of a stateless dhow (ship) traveling in international waters, the Navy said, with members of the USS Monterey’s U.S. Coast Guard Advanced Interdiction Team taking part in the inspection.

W.P