Paradise Lost: Increased Armament of Crime Gangs in Iceland

According to the risk assessment of the analysis department of the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police, which was presented yesterday, crime gangs in Iceland have firearms smuggled to the country and carry them on the streets.

Icelandic Police Officers. Copyright: Icelandic Photo Agency.

The analysis department concludes that this development can be linked to the increased presence of foreign criminals in Iceland; crime gangs have members with military training, Fréttablaðið reports.
 
Police have information that handguns are being smuggled to the country; known criminals have placed emphasis on armament in the past months. 
 
The risk of armed conflicts between gangs is at hand which jeopardizes public safety, the analysis department concludes.

Well-organized break-ins and thefts by foreign crime gangs in Iceland, such as the so-called “Rolex raid” in Reykjavík in October, were also brought up.
 
“Such events indicate increased harshness in the Icelandic underworld and at the same time the presence of foreign crime gangs in the country,” the risk assessment states.
 
The analysis department pointed out that money laundering is an important factor in the operations of international crime organizations, as is drug trade, prostitution and human trafficking.
 
The production of narcotic substances and marijuana has increased significantly in Iceland in the past years. 
 
The production of amphetamines results in particularly strong and dangerous chemicals which can result in people losing control and becoming violent, while the production is dangerous in itself as there is risk of explosion.
 
The amount of drugs produced in Iceland has become so significant that the suspicion has arisen that they may be intended for export, Morgunblaðið reports.

• Police Request Assistance from Poland in Rolex Raider Probe
• Icelandic Watchmaker Reclaims Loot
• Suspected Reykjavík Shooter in Custody
• Guns and Knives Confiscated by Reykjavík Police

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Missing SANDF weapons 'alarming'

In another worrying loss of armaments from a major power, six rocket launchers and four mortars are among weaponry that has gone missing from South African National Defence Force (SANDF) arsenals over the past year, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Lindiwe Sisulu revealed on Monday. The missing launchers include three 88mm anti-tank weapons, which can be used to knock out armoured vehicles. In a written response to a parliamentary question, Sisulu gave details of weapons that had "been stolen or gone missing" from the SANDF over the past three years.

According to a table included in the reply -- titled "Firearm losses of the DOD -- weapon losses during 2009 included:

• five 9mm pistols;
• six 5.56mm rifles;
• seven 7.62mm rifles;
• one 7.70mm rifle;
• six 0.22 (inch) rifles;
• four 60mm mortars;
• one 81mm mortar;
• three 88mm rocket launchers;
• two 40mm rocket launchers; and
• one 70mm rocket launcher.

The table did not indicate whether the stolen or missing launchers and mortars included rockets and shells. The losses were "alarming", Freedom Front Plus MP Pieter Groenewald, who posed the question to Sisulu, said on Monday. "It is alarming to see these figures. The fact that 88mm rocket launchers, which can be used against tanks and vehicles, have been stolen is quite disturbing. "The question is: What do those who have these weapons want to use them for? What will people do with these rocket launchers?" Groenewald said the reply also showed a total of 87 7.62mm rifles and 47 5.56mm rifles had been stolen from the SANDF since 2007. "If we look at cash-in-transit heists, these are exactly the sort of weapons criminals use." Terrorists could also find practical use throughout Africa for such weaponry.

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LA Ports Add Ship to Screen for Biological Weapons

A new ship to detect chemical and biological weapons has been launched to protect the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department said Wednesday it started using the $3 million vessel this week. It is staffed by explosives experts and equipped with tools to screen cargo ships for threats before they enter the nation's busiest port complex. The experts board the ships and screen for substances used for weapons of mass destruction. Deputies have also added a helicopter to screen for radioactive material, while the ship's sonar system looks for underwater threats. The ships are subject to further inspection when they enter the ports.

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Iran proclaims new success in uranium enrichment

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed Thursday that Iran has produced its first batch of uranium enriched to a higher level, saying his country will not be bullied by the West into curtailing its nuclear program a day after the U.S. imposed new sanctions. Ahmadinejad reiterated to hundreds of thousands of cheering Iranians on the anniversary of the 1979 foundation of the Islamic republic that the country was now a "nuclear state," an announcement he's made before. He insisted that Iran had no intention of building nuclear weapons. It was not clear how much enriched material had actually been produced just two days after the process was announced to have started.

David Albright of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security said that any 20-percent enriched uranium produced just a few days after the start of the process would be "a tiny amount." The United States and some of its allies accuse Tehran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to build nuclear weapons but Tehran denies the charge, saying the program is just geared toward generating electricity."I want to announce with a loud voice here that the first package of 20 percent fuel was produced and provided to the scientists," he said. Enriching uranium produces fuel for a nuclear power plants but can also be used to create material for atomic weapons if enriched further to 90 percent or more.

• "The Sanctions on Iran are Working", Foreign Policy, 2/10/10.
  
• "Iran’s Enrichment for the Tehran Research Reactor: Update", Institute for Science and International Security, 2/9/10.
  
• "Uranium Enrichment" US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, website.
• "Enrichment Process", URENCO, website.
  
• "Gas Centrifuge Uranium Enrichment", Global Security, website.
  

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Man with weapons, map of military base arrested

A man was arrested Monday after police found an arsenal of high-powered weapons and a map of a U.S. military base in his New Jersey hotel. Lloyd R. Woodson, 43, was arrested and faces multiple weapons charges after an investigation into his suspicious behavior at a store in Branchburg, New Jersey, said local prosecutor Wayne J. Forrest.

Woodson, wearing a military jacket, went to a store called Quick Chek on Monday afternoon and was acting suspiciously, Forrest said in a statement. The clerk called authorities. When officers arrived, Woodson ran into the woods. He was subdued after wrestling with officers, the statement said.

During the struggle, officers noticed that Woodson was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying an assault rifle in his coat. Officers searched Woodson's hotel room and found another assault rifle, a grenade launcher, a police scanner, another bulletproof vest, a map of a U.S. military base, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and a Middle Eastern-style headdress.

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Hezbollah Threatens Weapon Buildup

Hezbollah's leader said Monday that the Lebanese militant group will improve its weapons capabilities to face off any Israeli threat and that armed struggle was the only way to regain Arab lands captured by the Jewish state.

Hassan Nasrallah's remarks signaled the group has no intention of meeting a United Nations resolution requiring it to give up its weapons. That position that has generated division among the country's fractious political groups as well as concern in Israel, which says it is preparing to deploy a defense system to shoot down rockets from Lebanon.

Mr. Nasrallah gave no details on the weapons plans, but Hezbollah has said it has tens of thousands of rockets. Israel's military says that since its 2006 war with the group, Hezbollah has tripled its prewar arsenal to more than 40,000 rockets, some of which can strike virtually anywhere in Israel -- a dramatic change from the short-range missiles it fired in 2006.

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Columbian FARC Rebels May Have Venezuelan Weapons

Shoulder-launched anti-tank weapons purchased by Venezuela have ended up in the hands of guerrillas, Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos said.

In an interview with Caracol Radio Monday, Santos addressed local reports of anti-tank weapons manufactured in Sweden being seized from members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and traced to Venezuela.

"This is not the first time that this happens," Santos said. "In several operations in which we have recovered weapons from the FARC, we have found powerful munitions and powerful equipment, including anti-tank weapons, from a European country that sold them to Venezuela and that turned up in the hands of the FARC."

• "Venezuela Still Aids Colombia Rebels, New Material Shows", New York Times, 8/2/09.
• "Colombia: FARC weapons traced to Venezuela", CNN, 7/28/09.

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