[cuchulainn]

See next post for explanation of "three different calibers"

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,1113,2-7-1442_1305305,00.html

from the News 24 site


01/09/03
Cops seize 220 AK-47s in CT
Cape Town - Western Cape police confiscated a huge haul of semi-automatic assault rifles from a warehouse near Cape Town International Airport on Wednesday night.

Captain Rod Beer said on Thursday a total of 220 AK-47 assault rifles and 60 shotguns were confiscated by firearm-control detectives and border-control police after a search warrant had been obtained following a tip-off.

The semi-automatic assault rifles had been redesigned to accept three different calibres of bullet.

Beer said the weapons, from Russia, were being held at an undisclosed destination after they were imported without a permit or proper documentation.

Beer said police were trying to establish who imported the weapons and for what country they were intended.

[cuchulainn]

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,1113,2-7-1442_1305383,00.html

09/01/2003
New version AK-47s found

Cape Town - The 280 AK-47 assault rifles confiscated at a warehouse near the Cape Town International Airport on Wednesday resembled the old AK-47, but had been redesigned to accept three different calibre bullets.

The guns, imported under the brand name Saiga from the Russian factory that manufactured the original AK-47 rifles, included versions capable of taking 7.62 calibre rounds, .233 and 12-bore shotgun rounds.

The gun dealer who allegedly imported of the guns - valued at about R465 000 - without the necessary permit, would be questioned by serious violent crime police, police spokesperson Captain Rod Beer said on Thursday.

Imported illegally

Members of the firearm control unit and border police at the airport seized the guns following a tip-off.

Beer said: "The weapons were imported into the country without the necessary permits."

The importer would be investigated in terms of the Firearms and Ammunitions Act.

Beer said police would try to establish whether the importer had links with militant groups or a private army, or whether he was simply an import agent for the latest generation of AK-47s.

Private ownership of semi-automatic assault rifles was allowed only in exceptional circumstances, said Firearm Control chief Jacques van Lill.

National police spokesperson Director Sally de Beer said there seemed to be no link between the cache and an alleged rightwing plot to overthrow the government.

She said: "At this stage there is really no indication that there is a link."

Rocket launchers

Wednesday night's haul followed the seizure of an arms cache found in boxes in the garage of a Table view man who had died in an apparent hijacking on the R300 recently.

When the man's widow and a friend opened the boxes, they found cylindrical tubes, which they handed to Strand police.

Eastern Metropole police spokesperson Superintendent Riaan Pool said the tubes were identified as RPG-7 rocket boosters. Seven warheads were also found in the cache.

[Drizzt]

XINHUA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE


January 9, 2003, Thursday 11:13 AM Eastern Time

SECTION: WORLD NEWS; OTHERS

LENGTH: 314 words

HEADLINE: Assault rifles, shotguns seized in Cape Town

BODY:
JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) --South African police confiscated a huge shipment of semi-automatic assault rifles and shotguns imported into its coastal city of Cape Town without proper permits, police said on Thursday.

The shipment was seized at a warehouse facility near Cape Town International Airport on Wednesday night following a tip-off. The shipment which contained 220 assault rifles and 60 semi-automatic shotguns, was seized by firearm control unit detectives and border police at the airport after a search warrant was obtained.

Police spokesman Captain Rod Beer said the weapons, from Russia, were being held in police storage at an undisclosed destination.

"The weapons were imported into the country without the necessary permits being obtained," Beer said.

He said the people who had imported the weapons were being investigated in terms of the Firearms and Ammunitions Act.

However, he declined to release any further details.

Wednesday night's haul followed the seizure of six cylindrical tubes, found by a Western Cape man in the garage of a friend who died recently. They were identified as RPG7 rocket boosters, police said at the weekend.

National police spokeswoman Director Sally de Beer said there was no indication that the weapons seized on Wednesday night in Cape Town had anything to do with an alleged rightwing plot to overthrow the government.

"At this stage there is really no indication that there is any link," she said.

Thirty alleged rightwingers are to stand trial in the Pretoria High Court in connection with an alleged coup plans.

The men were allegedly linked to the shadowy rightwing group, the Boeremag, which has claimed responsibility for at least some of the bombings last year in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape. They will face charges of terrorism, high treason and sabotage.