Another Major Weapons Seizure in Gulf of Oman

The U.S. Central Command is reporting yet another significant seizure of weapons in the Gulf of Oman along a route known for weapons trafficking from Iran to Yemen.

The latest seizure was carried out by French naval forces on January 15 and resulted in more than 3,000 assault rifles, 578,000 rounds of ammunition and 23 advanced anti-tank guided missiles being recovered.

The seizure is one of four significant illicit cargo interdictions over the past few months that have prevented more than 5,000 weapons and 1.6 million rounds of ammunition from reaching Yemen.

U.S. forces previously intercepted a fishing vessel on January 6 in the Gulf of Oman and discovered it smuggling more than 2,100 assault rifles along a maritime route from Iran to Yemen.

In December, U.S. naval forces operating on the expeditionary sea base USS Lewis B. Puller seized more than 1 million rounds of ammunition, as well as fuses and propellants for rockets.

Weeks earlier, the USS The Sullivans, USS Hurricane (PC 3) and USCGC John Scheuerman (WPC 1146) confiscated a huge cache of more than 70 tons of ammonium perchlorate, a powerful oxidizer commonly used to make rocket and missile fuel, as well as 100 tons of urea fertilizer.