A shipload of Israeli weapons is busted in Spain—bound for Nicaragua. The Nicaraguan government denies knowing anything about it. Could they have been bound for some kind of neo-contra force? Talk about nostalgia for the '80s... From Prensa Latina [2], July 5:
Nicaraguan Police and Army denied their responsibility for a cargo of weapons made in Israel, seized in Spain's Port Algeciras, with the Central American nation as final destination.
Spokespersons of both institutions told press separately on Thursday that none of the armed bodies have taken actions to buy armament in Israel.
We have absolutely nothing to do with that, the Nicaraguan Armed Force spokesman, Col. Adolfo Zepeda asserted, while his colleague, National Police Commissioner Alonso Sevilla also declared that there is no weapons request.
The spokesmen also ratified the willingness of both institutions to cooperate with the investigation of the supposed international operation of arms traffic, if the Spanish authorities make such a request.
The arms cache, with some 400 pistols of different calibers, 300 shotguns, and 385 rifles, was found in Algeciras on Wednesday during a routine inspection.
The ship's bill of lading registered a compressed-air carbine cargo in the container, with Managua as destination.
The ship, which was coming from Haifa, Israel, was scheduled for a stop at a US port before continuing its trip to Nicaragua.
See our last posts on Nicaragua [3] and Central America [4].
