Unlimited ammunition is no longer the domain of video games or movies: these three arrested British smugglers, reportedly of Iraqi Kurdish origin, managed to fit almost 240,000 cartridges into their vans while attempting to cross into Turkey from Greece.
After following the group for several days, Greek police intercepted a battered caravan trailer near the port of Alexandropouli close the country’s Turkish border.
And here’s what they found inside: 18 rifles, nearly 40,000 ammo cartridges, seven mobile phones, and cash in different regional currencies.
The two men arrested at the scene tried to conceal their small arsenal underneath the caravan’s bed, as can be seen in a police video obtained by RT’s agency Ruptly.
Officials say the weapons were not battlefield-ready, but could have been used to train recruits.
A third man, whose identity was given up by the first two, was detained at the nearby Kipoi border crossing driving a caravan with German plates, in which he was transporting 200,000 cartridges and four pistols.
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All three in the band had obtained British citizenship after emigrating from Iraqi Kurdistan, according to Reuters. According to their passports, they are between 35 and 40 years old.
“We don’t have any evidence to connect them with Islamic State ... we have informed Europol and Interpol,” said a statement from the Greek police, who said the trio were likely part of a “criminal gang.”
The UK Foreign Office said it was “urgently looking into the reports” concerning the arrest of the three men.
“We are in contact with local authorities in Greece following the arrests of three British nationals, and are providing consular assistance,” said a Foreign Office statement.
The men are expected to be charged with weapons possession and smuggling when they face a local magistrate on Monday.
The stateless Kurdish people make up significant minorities in Syria, Iraq, and Turkey. They have been battling Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in the first two countries, and are locked in an increasingly fraught conflict with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government in Turkey.