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The US Navy confiscated 1,400 AK-47 assault rifles and thousands of rounds of Iranian ammunition. The weapons were seized from a fishing vessel in the North Arabian Sea. Photo/US Navy/Petty Officer 3rd Class Elisha Smith
The confiscation of thousands of weapons was carried out earlier this week, but was only revealed Wednesday (12/22/2021) in a US Navy release.
“Weapons and ammunition found by Navy troops during flag inspection [kapal] in accordance with customary international law in the North Arabian Sea,” the US Navy said.
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The five crew members have all been identified as Yemeni nationals, and will be returned to their home countries.
Despite being described as a stateless vessel, the US Navy noted in a release that the undisclosed findings suggest that the thousands of weapons came from Iran.
“After removing the crew and dark cargo, U.S. Navy forces determined the stateless ship was dangerous for navigation to [kapal] commercial shipments and sink them,” the US Navy continued.
This comes months after the guided-missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81) seized what was reported as an illegal shipment of weapons and weapons components from two stateless vessels off the coast of Somalia.
The seizure, which took place on February 11-12, 2021, resulted in the seizure of a number of weapons, including thousands of AK-47-style assault rifles, submachine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and heavy sniper rifles.
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