By Hadi Fornaji
Tripoli, 25 April 2013:
A Libyan-flagged vessel allegedly laden with weapons and ammunition was seized today in the Turkish port . . .[restrict]of Tuzla, in what appears to have been an intelligence-led operation.
The Libyan captain and a Turkish national aboard the unnamed 57-metre vessel were arrested. Police units from the ?stanbul Customs Enforcement Directorate of Smuggling, Intelligence and Narcotics reportedly found over 400 pistols along with 5,000 rounds of ammunition, 90 pump-action shotguns, a quarter of a million shotgun cartridges and two gas masks.
The ship is said to have put in to Tuzla on 4 April for maintenance. The arms were discovered during customs clearance before the vessel was due to leave, supposedly for Libya. Both the arrested men have been charged with arms smuggling. [/restrict]
