Yemen Seizes New Turkish Arms Cargo

The Yemeni authorities seized on Thursday a new Turkish-made arms cargo inside a container which was anchored and have been watched at the Aden port since mid-November.Head of the customs authority Muhammad Zimam said the cargo included scores of boxes containing machine guns that were produced and shipped in Turkey, the state news agency Saba said."According to preliminary information, the cargo included about 3780 machine guns, T14 type," he was quoted as saying.In parallel, he added: "The guns were registered as plastic materials but the inspection systems revealed how the guns were smuggled in a very complicated way.""The container was seized in mid-November after it appeared suspicious," Zimam said, pointing out "the authorities have been watching it and waiting for its owner to submit his cargo papers for the past few months."Meanwhile, he unveiled that "the authorities were informed the cargo was shipped for a military service. Then we coordinated with the intelligence to open it and found the guns."Another official determined that the pistols marked a variant of firearms manufactured in the United States."These were not Turkish-produced weapons," an official said.The cargo was part of a string of weapon seizures in recent months including those coming from Turkey and China and which reportedly were said to have been shipped for violent groups in the countryThe arrival of the firearms marked the second smuggling attempt from Turkey to Yemen in three months."We're not sure who the end-user was meant to be," one official said, and noted that "it could have been terrorist groups. What is more likely is that these are arms merchants."The latest shipment of pistols was packed in boxes meant for cakes and cookies.