Police battle rifles in Paraguay were quietly swapped for plastic and wood replicas, only spotted during a weapons inspection after the real ones began to appear on the local black market.
Originally, Paraguay media said that 42 rifles had been swapped, but the Interior Ministry later referred to 44 automatic rifles.
National media called the theft the “most embarrassing scandal” in the history of the country’s police force after the switch was revealed following the inspection by police on Aug 21.
The inspection was prompted after the FN Fal battle rifles began to appear a year ago on the black market, where they can fetch up to $10,000 (7,785 pounds), according to the BBC.
Roban 42 fusiles de guerra que estaban resguardados en un cuartel policial y lo reemplazan por réplicas de juguete. https://t.co/FP6xCO3F6n pic.twitter.com/ukoXoUnlDY
— ABC Digital (@ABCDigital) August 25, 2018
Interior Minister Juan Villamayor said that an “in-depth investigation” is under way. He also revealed that from January to July, an additional 90 small arms had also gone missing, according to a statement from the ministry.
Villamayor ordered the prosecutor to investigate the disappearance of the 44 automatic weapons, according to a statement posted on Twitter.
Investigation Prompted by Rifles on Black Market
“It is a very serious crime,” he said.
Ministro del Interior, Juan Ernesto Villamayor, dio información al Presidente de la República @MaritoAbdo acerca de 44 armas largas desaparecidas en la Policía. "Se está haciendo una investigación profunda. De enero a julio, otras 90 armas cortas también se extraviaron", afirmó. pic.twitter.com/MWWmRdTjOA
— Ministerio del Interior (@minteriorpy) August 27, 2018
The police force had been upgrading to newer models of the assault rifles, putting the old model in the national police armory located in the city of Capiatá.
After the rifles began to appear on the black market, the military ordered an investigation that eventually led them to the police armory.
According to ABC Color, the head of the Department of Armaments and Ammunitions, Benjamin Segovia, chief inspector, said that during the inventory they found some differences between the detail of the weapons listed on the list and the rifles.
At a glance the replicas look like the originals, but on closer inspection there was a lack of a firing mechanism, and they are made of wood and plastic components.
The police officer in charge of the armory has been replaced but no arrests have so far been made.
The city of Capiatá borders neighboring Argentina, where authorities believe some of the rifles may have been taken.
According to local media reports, the rifles were originally from Brazil. FN Fal battle rifles were first developed in the 1950s, in Belgium, in the following decades often used in the theater of conflict as a NATO alternative to the ubiquitous soviet manufactured AK-47.
From The Epoch Times
