Undeclared Weapons Found on Höegh Car Carrier Inside UN Vehicles, Owner Confirms

By Joseph Akwiri

MOMBASA, Kenya, Sept 23 (Reuters) – Weapons discovered by Kenyan police on a ship final week had been stashed inside a cargo of United Nations automobiles, the Norwegian firm that owns the vessel stated on Wednesday.

Kenyan police stated safety brokers on Thursday found firearms and medicines on the Norwegian-flagged Hoegh Transporter, which is docked on the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa.

Coastguards and navies in East Africa have struggled to stem the move of medication by means of their waters because the area has grow to be a key export route for Afghan heroin destined for Europe.

Hoegh Autoliners confirmed weapons have been discovered inside among the automobiles on its vessel, which was carrying a consignment from Mumbai to the U.N. peacekeeping mission within the Democratic Republic of Congo, MONUSCO.

“It is our understanding that these weapons belong to the U.N. vehicles in which they were found, and were for use by the U.N. during their peacekeeping mission,” the corporate stated in an announcement on its web site.

“The weapons were not declared to us at the time the cargo was loaded, and the fact that weapons were in the vehicles is in violation of our terms of transportation, which clearly states that no arms or ammunition are accepted for shipment.”

Charles Bambara, a spokesman for MONUSCO, stated the consignment of armoured personnel carriers and weapons was attributable to be delivered to Indian peacekeepers primarily based in North Kivu province.

Bambara stated the Indian agency dealing with the cargo had not declared all of the cargo to Kenyan authorities however stated he didn’t know the explanation for the omission. The firm, whose identify Bambara didn’t know, had since accomplished the required varieties, he stated.

Asked about Hoegh Autoliners’ assertion that weapons weren’t allowed on board, Bambara stated: “APCs are not a tourist vehicle. APCs are for security issues.”

Regional police commander Francis Wanjohi informed Reuters late on Tuesday that he didn’t have extra particulars concerning the character of the weapons and medicines discovered.

In its assertion, Hoegh Autoliners stated the corporate was conscious of studies that the Kenyan authorities had discovered a substance on its vessel that was being examined to establish whether or not may very well be medicine.

“We have no clear information at this point as to whether this is correct or not,” it stated within the assertion.

In July, Kenyan police seized 341 kg of heroin hidden within the diesel tank of a ship, the most important single seizure of medication at Mombasa.

(Additional reporting by Stine Jacobsen in Oslo and Aaron Ross in Kinshasa; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)