20,000 U.S. M-16s stolen from unguarded warehouse in Kuwait

ABU DHABI — Kuwait has reported the theft of a massive amount of
U.S. weapons.
The Interior Ministry said thieves broke into a warehouse and stole a
huge amount of firearms and ammunition. The ministry said 20,000 U.S.-origin M-16 assault rifles and 15,000 rounds for 9mm pistols were stolen.

“There were no guards during the break-in,” the ministry said on April
7.

Any guesses where these weapons are likely to end up?

Seriously, a large arms depot and there were no guards present, and the thieves just took their time to break in through several doors, and load up what must have been quite a large amount of crates / containers and nobody saw anything or heard anything. No alarm system ringing bells or monitored? Are they serious?

Does seem to smell a bit. Sounds more plausible that the weapons depot was perhaps deliberately left unmanned for a planned heist. That way the authorities just claim they were stolen, rather than having to explain them being shipped to a little war brewing somewhere. Just my cynical questioning nature at work.

reply to post by Britguy


Syria bound, as we speak, with some covert U.S. help ?

reply to post by Britguy


20,000 rifles, 15,000 rounds of ammo. In an unguarded warehouse.

Stolen? No...sold perhaps.

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...

reply to post by Ameilia


So Aunt Janet is using my tax money to double her takings on guns and ammo to go to the enemies of our next war in Syria?

Damn it! I'm so sick of these stupid politicians using my money to make more problems so they can take more of my money and kill innocent children and women for an unworthy cause.

reply to post by Britguy


Link please?

20,000 M-16's ya know, just hangin' around, with no guards in Kuwait. No big deal.

Originally posted by retirednature
reply to post by Britguy

 

Link please?

20,000 M-16's ya know, just hangin' around, with no guards in Kuwait. No big deal.

You can see it on World Tribune

On the one hand it is very convenient for these weapons to go missing with no security in place but it is worth pointing out that in Kuwait, all firearms are prohibited by law and any civillian possesion risks severe penalties.

One could argue that in a country where the gun control is strict you dont need to guard 20,000 M16's as no one would be stupid enough to try and steal them.
Selling them internally to a no gun population would be impossible and getting 20,000 guns out of the country would be more than likely to fail.

As other posters have said ; expect to see these weapons turn up in a conflict near you soon.

reply to post by Ameilia


Apologies... forgot to add the link. Thanks for fixing that.

Eric Holder got them. Mexico bound.

Originally posted by Britguy
reply to post by Ameilia

 

Apologies... forgot to add the link. Thanks for fixing that.

No problem mate, easy enough to find on Google.

reply to post by Britguy


Doesn't Cheney live in Dubai ? No 1 suspect.

Thought I'd see what coverage this is getting on Google and it was predictably scarce.

Then I clicked on this

www.arabtimesonline.com...

which seems to be related.

In summary, Kuwaiti interior minsiter sacks senior Army official after 35,000 rounds of ammo go missing.

Strangely not one mention of 20,000 M16s??


Edit foor some reason link wont work when posted, heres the text:

Senior officer sacked, many others shifted in ammo theft

KUWAIT CITY, April 9: First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Hmoud has sacked a senior officer for allegedly breaking into the ammunition warehouse of the ‘Kazma’ shooting range and stealing 35,000 rounds of M16 rifle and pistols, reports Al-Shahed daily quoting knowledgeable sources.

The same sources said the decision was taken after the official was held responsible for decline in the level of security in various sectors of the ministry.

The sources added Al-Hmoud has also moved a number of security officers whose names surfaced during interrogations to the Ministry head office until investigations into the issue are completed.

According to the sources, five people — three Bangladeshis and two unidentified persons — working at the site were taken into custody in connection with the theft.

The Al-Qabas daily said personnel from the Criminal Investigation Department are holding confidential investigations and men from the Criminal Evidences Department have lifted fingerprints of a person from one of three broken doors.

According to initial investigations the thieves had full knowledge of the entries and exits of the warehouse and also allegedly chose the right time. The stolen ammunition was transported in a small truck.

The Al-Watan Arabic daily said an officer who was responsible for education and training was negligent. He reportedly kept all the ammunition in a room without the knowledge of his superiors - the ammunition which should have been returned to the academy.

The daily added the rooms are still being built and no CCTV cameras have been installed. A complaint was filed by the guard on March 17, 2013 with the North Jahra Police Station when he discovered someone had broken the locks on the door. In spite of this, no precautionary measures were adopted.
In the meantime, the Al-Seyassah daily said several parliamentarians have reacted to the incident. MP Saad Al-Bous said the theft of 35,000 rounds of ammunition from depots belonging to the Ministry of Interior has become the talk of the Diwaniyas and called on the First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmed Hmoud to quickly identify the cause and hold to account those responsible.
Al-Bous has put a demand to the Interior Minister to establish a fact-finding committee to uncover the circumstances of the incident which is the first of its kind in Kuwait’s history. He described the incident as a breach of the security establishment.

He said: “The Interior Minister should form a ministerial committee to investigate the facts and if the committee fails to yield results in two months, we will demand the formation of a parliamentary commission of inquiry to uncover the circumstances of the incident.

He added, it is regrettable that the Interior Ministry has not issued a clear statement on this issue. He said the big question is: Is the Ministry of Interior unable to protect its ammunition depots? If so, how will the ministry protect the interests of the citizens and provide security for the people?

MP Hisham Baghli said this incident is a serious indicator that the goal is to disturb the stability of this country.

Al-Baghli said in a statement this is either a pre-planned theft or happened due to negligence of the people who are entrusted with guarding military warehouses. This indicates there are breaches in security system.

MP Yaqoub Al-Sane doubted the involvement of people from either inside or outside the country and this incident threatens the security and stability of the country.

“We all know that there are many people who do not want to see Kuwait secure and stable. They work to sow seeds of division among the Kuwaitis to stop its growth, progress and development,” he said.
He added: It is clear the stolen ammunition can fall in the hands of criminals who can use it in sabotage activities and to create a state of chaos

I think the OP's source is a mistranslation/bad journalism.

Verified on 2 other news sites that this is actually 35,000 rounds not 20,000 M16's

20,000 M-16 rifle rounds, and 15,000 9mm pistol rounds

gulfnews.com...


Cant find any news source stating 20,000 M16's had been stolen..... only ammo.

reply to post by Britguy

hmm, this doesn't make....oh, what's that boromir?

good point.

Originally posted by Jukiodone
I think the OP's source is a mistranslation/bad journalism.

Verified on 2 other news sites that this is actually 35,000 rounds not 20,000 M16's

20,000 M-16 rifle rounds, and 15,000 9mm pistol rounds

gulfnews.com...


Cant find any news source stating 20,000 M16's had been stolen..... only ammo.

edit on 11-4-2013 by Jukiodone because: (no reason given)

That sounds much more plausible...

Because 20,000 m16 in crates would probably weigh around 100 tons, no way someone would even attempt a heist that big.

Either way, that is a ton of ammo!!

DHS? They seem to need a lot of ammo. Sequester and all that, they have have just appropriated it.



Seriously, Syrian bound! 5.56mm ammo is quiet a good haul.

P

reply to post by Starwise


that's a drop of water compared to what the US bought recently.

DHS Buys 1.6 Billion rounds of ammo

THATS a lot of ammo!

Originally posted by ugie1028
reply to post by Starwise

 

that's a drop of water compared to what the US bought recently.

DHS Buys 1.6 Billion rounds of ammo

THATS a lot of ammo!

Standard procedure to prop up home industries.

The US also bought (or subsidised depending upon your view) 8 billion dollars worth of nothing from its Farmers in 2004 :
en.wikipedia.org...

Hm…

M16 using NATO issue ammo it has no use for AL-Qaeda (using AK 47) mainly.

I am afraid that those weapons are on their way to the American weapon market. (much needed at this times of gun holders and ownerships disputes).