PARAGUAY ARRESTS SOLDIERS FOR STOLEN (USG-ORIGIN?)

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASUNCION 000003 SIPDIS STATE FOR PM/WRA MADAMS AND WHA/BSC MDASCHBACH E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2033 TAGS: PARM MASS PTER PA SUBJECT: PARAGUAY ARRESTS SOLDIERS FOR STOLEN (USG-ORIGIN?) EXPLOSIVES REF: 08 ASUNCION 726 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i. Michael J. Fitzpatrick for reaso ns 1.4 (b) and (d). -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Paraguayan police arrested two Paraguayan Army soldiers January 5 for possessing and attempting to sell apparently U.S.-sourced military ordinance -- including hundreds of packets of C4 plastic explosives -- possibly stolen from military stockpiles. The suspects -- apprehended while driving a stolen car filled with the ordinance -- were arrested after they tried to sell their cargo to a police officer. Police are now investigating the exact origins of the ordinance and possible accomplices. The Embassy is assisting in tracking available serial and lot numbers through DoD and ATF. END SUMMARY. -------------- POLICE BUST WOULD-BE ARMS TRAFFICKERS -------------- ¶2. (C) Paraguayan police arrested two Paraguayan Army sergeants at 0330 January 5 near Piribebuy, Paraguari Department, for possessing and attempting to sell 187 kilograms (267 packets) of C-4 plastic explosives, including 21 rigged with detonation cord; 41 detonators; 25 M-1 rifles, and six packages of electric fuses. (NOTE: The M-1 rifles, some stamped "Springfield Armory," are rusting and in very poor condition; the C-4 explosives, on the other hand, are relatively new and appear to be in all-too-usable condition. END NOTE.) Police seized the two suspects and their (stolen) automobile filled with military ordinance. Police estimated that the suspects possessed ordinance possibly stolen from the Defense Ministry's War Materials Directorate (DIMABEL) facility in Piribebuy. ¶3. (C) Interior Minister Rafael Filizzola held a morning press conference January 5 to present the matierals and explain the arrests. President Fernando Lugo told Charge later that day that the National Police informed him that one of the suspects made an unsolicited offer to sell the ordinance for USD 150,000 to a police officer in late December. Lugo said the police officer reported the incident to his chain of command, prompting the police to launch a sting operation. Despite doubts over the veracity of the story, police initiated negotiations with the suspects and, after several false starts, the suspects actually presented �00A;their car stuffed with the ordinance. Although the suspects eagerly promised to sell an even greater variety of weapons "next week," once the surprised undercover cop inspected the car loaded with C-4 plastic explosives -- some of it apparently primed -- the police decided to seize it and arrest whomever they could immediately. President Lugo told Charge police and prosecutors are now tracing the numbers in the suspects' cellphones for other possible leads and accomplices in the case. -------------- ORIGIN OF THE ORDINANCE -------------- ¶4. (C) Police are now tracking down the origin of the ordinance, and investigating what other individuals -- possibly military personnel -- are involved in the theft. Police are focusing on whether the suspects -- one of whom is stationed at DIMABEL -- stole the ordinance from DIMABEL's storage warehouse. Police reported that they are pursuing a third individual who fled from the arrest scene. (NOTE: Lugo told Charge that the police could not confirm whether the suspects were members of an organized arms trafficking ring. He had doubts, however, that two low-level Army sergeants would be so brazen as to attempt to steal such a quantity of high-explosives without involvement of far more senior officers. END NOTE.) ¶5. (C) The Embassy is cooperating with the Paraguayan government -- by tracing the serial and lot numbers through DoD and ATF -- especially given the probability that some or all of the ordinance is of U.S. origin. The Paraguayan military destroyed most of its expired munitions with USG assistance in July and September 2008, greatly reducing the risk that expired, unstable munitions could fall into the hands of illicit arms traffickers -- or explode (reftel). With PM/WRA and DoD support, the munitions destruction resulted in the elimination of 138,700 pounds of expired munitions, including land mines, bombs, and expired ammunition, and reduced Paraguay's total munitions stockpile by over 75 percent. (NOTE: Those M-1 carbines remaining in Paraguay's stock that were not destroyed were to have been used for parts, parades or museum display. END NOTE.) Some explosives used to destroy these munitions were provided by the USG; the Embassy is working with U.S. military and civilian law enforcement agencies to fully account for all ordinance allocated to complete this project. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (C) The investigation into the source of the ordinance and how it came into the possession of military personnel cum arms traffickers is still preliminary, but the likelihood of diversion from official channels is of course quite troibling. The police's effective response in investigating and apprehending the suspects red-handed, on the other hand, provides a rare victory for Paraguayan law enforcement -- and an early win for the Lugo government in the new year. END COMMENT. Please visit us at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/asuncion FITZPATRICK