HomeNewsBriefArgentine Military Guns Missing, Pointing to Brazil Connection
BRIEF

Argentine Military Guns Missing, Pointing to Brazil Connection

ARGENTINA / 19 JUL 2012 BY CHRISTOPHER LOOFT EN

Argentina's Armed Forces have lost track of more than 400 firearms in the past two years, according to a government report, in evidence that military stockpiles may be feeding a regional arms bazaar.

The newspaper Clarin obtained a report which Chief of Staff Juan Manuel Abal Medina prepared for Argentina's Congress, highlighting the theft of arms from the army, air force, and navy. Among the weapons stolen from the air force and army were six Browning heavy machine guns, 154 FAL rifles (see picture), and 22 nine-millimeter pistols. According to Clarin, the report could not access statistics about weapon theft from naval stockpiles because it is treated as classified information.

The weapons have reportedly been leaked into the black market in Argentina and Brazil, in addition to other countries, but Clarin's summary of the official report did not specify where.

In addition to the missing guns, more than 2,300 rounds of pistol and rifle ammunition have been stolen, as well as hundreds of various types of FAL rifle parts. Julian Obiglio, the opposition congressman who commissioned the report, said the weapons and stolen parts together could equip 428 riflemen.

In some cases, the arms were stolen by members of the military. Some were stolen in attacks by criminals on military facilities, though this was less common. According to the report, the army and the air force have responded to the loss of weapons with a variety of protective measures, including increased surprise inspections of armories and the creation of an army computer database intended to track the movement of weapons.

InSight Crime Analysis

While the destination of most of these weapons is still unclear, one rifle reported missing from a military arsenal turned up in early 2011 after a police raid in a Rio de Janeiro favela, according to another report by Clarin. These reports point to a level of corruption in Argentina's military, which is apparently bleeding weapons to criminal groups in neighboring countries, especially Brazil.

The fact that at least six heavy machine guns have gone missing from Argentine stockpiles raises particular concerns. These weapons fire armor-piercing .50 caliber rounds, and could increase the threat to local security forces, already out-gunned by some urban gangs in the region. During a 2009 crackdown by authorities following a turf war between Brazil's Amigos dos Amigos (ADA) and Red Command (CV) gangs, traffickers shot down a police helicopter, killing two crew members. Police later procured a bullet-proof helicopter, but a Browning heavy machine gun could pose a threat to even an armored helicopter.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ARGENTINA / 25 OCT 2022

Bolivia's cocaine trade is on the up. Originally a coca leaf cultivator, Bolivia has moved to cocaine production.

BRAZIL / 27 JAN 2022

Residents in Rio de Janeiro's marginalized favelas are contending with yet another massive police operation promising to deliver a true…

BRAZIL / 15 JUN 2023

From Colima to Caracas, some parts of Latin America have stubbornly high homicide rates, far higher than the rest of…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…