This week a joint operation involving Czech and Slovak security forces shut down a weapons trafficking network that was operating across the two countries’ border.
The raid, which is part of a larger campaign targeted at illegal arms trading, saw 6 Czechs and 2 Slovaks arrested. The men will be charged with illegal arms trading and could face up to eight years behind bars.
The raid also saw the seizure of a large quantity of Kalashnikov and Scorpion machine guns, pistols, silencers, grenades, Semtex explosives and other ammunition. A source from the military said that the confiscated weaponry would be enough to kit out a small army.
Several foreigners linked to the underworld were also involved in the illegal business, but so far the security forces do not know what the firearms were to be used for or where they were supposed to end up. The weapons were mostly repaired and modified firearms from obsolete stockpiles of the Czech army, which were then sold on to buyers in Slovakia and other places.