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Turkey: Radio-controlled Missiles Discovered In Containers
Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen said on Thursday that weapons were seized by customs officials from a ship that was headed in transit from Ukraine to Egypt. Speaking to reporters, Tuzmen said that radio-controlled missiles were discovered in containers aboard the ship that was docked at the ports of Ambarli, Istanbul for refuel. Tuzmen said that the cargo in the containers had been declared as spare parts. After investigation at the port of Ambarli which is almost 20 kilometers from Istanbul, Tuzmen said that customs officials searched two containers aboard the ship when they saw that the ship's cargo was different from the cargo statement of its captain. Recalling that Turkish officials had earlier discovered Kalashnikov rifles in containers which had been declared as hunting rifles aboard a ship, Tuzmen said, ''we have changed our control system. We have started to get results of it.'' Noting that the captain had stated that the cargo was various spare parts, but they were actually weapons, Tuzmen said investigation was under way. ''According to documents, goods were shipped from Ukraine to Egypt and containers were discharged at Ambarli and another ship is going to take them to Egypt. However, at the moment I say that a transit cargo was seized by our officials as it is a smuggling of weapons. There are weapons inside containers although they were supposed to have been spare parts according to captain's statement,'' he said. Asked whether officials seized anything else like chemical substances, Tuzmen said there was a radio-controlled missile. ''There are rockets, a radio-controlled missile and rocket launcher pads.''
Posted by: Steve 2004-06-04 |
