A burglary at an army supplies facility at Tancos near Santarém took advantage of a perimeter where the CCTV security coverage had been out of action for over two years.
The incident, on or before June 28th, is starting to look like an inside job and the scale of the theft now has become clear, only because a list of weapons and munitions was published by El Español this weekend.
Portugal’s Minister of Defence, Azeredo Lopes, has informed NATO allies of the theft, but few details were released domestically under the guise of 'not wanting to prejudice the inquiry.'
Ammunition, explosives and grenades were pinched with military precision and, with increasing pressure from the media and politicians over the weekend, the President of the Republic now has called for a full and vigorous investigation.
Among the weapons listed as stolen are:
1,450 9mm ammunition cartridges
150 hand grenades
44 anti-tank grenades
18 tear gas grenades
102 explosive charges
264 pieces of plastic explosive
Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa wants to know what happened and how this sort of hugely embarassing and dangerous theft can be prevented.
Keen to blame someone, five commanders have been suspended but they are not thought to have had anything to do with the theft, just that they were in charge in one way or another of security at the weapons storage facility.
