Anti-aircraft machine guns disappear from the Army arsenal in São Paulo

This Friday (13), the Southeast Military Command confirmed to the press that at least 13 .50 caliber machine guns and another eight 7.62 caliber machine guns disappeared from the War Arsenal located in Barueri, in greater São Paulo.

In the hands of criminals, .50 machine guns are used to shoot down aircraft and attack armored vehicles.

The absence was noticed on Tuesday (10) during an inspection. Officially, the case has been treated as robbery or theft.

A Military Police Inquiry was opened to investigate the circumstances of the disappearance and the soldiers who work in the magazine are prevented from going home, according to findings from the Metrópoles newspaper. The soldiers’ cell phones would also have been collected.

According to the Army, the missing machine guns had been collected for maintenance.

Military families complain about the lack of information. Until early evening, the São Paulo Public Security Secretariat (SSP) was unaware of the incident.

The Southeast Military Command said that the quartering of all soldiers is part of the “procedures provided for the case” and reported that all administrative measures were taken with the aim of investigating the circumstances of the robbery.

“The truth is that they [militares] They can’t say much, they can’t give details of anything. My husband reported that everyone is fine inside, but there is no prediction of when they will be able to leave,” a family member told Metrópoles.