War trophies seized at Heathrow

A gold-plated gun given to one of Saddam Hussein's henchmen has been seized at Heathrow Airport, it was reported. The Kalashnikov AK47 found yesterday was similar to the one uncovered at Uday Hussein's palace in Baghdad last week, according to a newspaper report.

The loaded machine gun was discovered along with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, six bayonets and a sniper rifle in packages marked as computer equipment, the newspaper claimed.

A spokesman for Customs and Excise said: "A quantity of arms was found at Heathrow and investigations are ongoing." No further details were given. The newspaper said the arms are believed to have been stolen for the US black market in war trophies.

An unnamed source told the paper that the gun was loaded, bubble wrapped along with a spare magazine and was bound for an address in the US but was picked up by an X-ray machine.

Posted by David on April 17, 2003 10:51 PM