Arms firm Unimpex Martin had a Sk31 million ($632,000) shipment of hydraulic presses for making artillery shells, destined for embargoed Myanmar, impounded at the Slovak-Hungarian border after customs officers found the firm had no license for the shipment, and had declared the machines as equipment for making shoes. Customs police became suspicious because the arms firm had never before been involved in the shoe trade. Arms shipments from Slovakia to embargoed or ‘high-risk’ have come under scrutiny since the terrorist attacks last year on the United States, with several suspicious weapons deals being intercepted last fall in Bratislava.
Compiled by Tom Nicholson from press reports.
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