London: Following their detention in May in the French port city of Calais after attempting to import two 'Bunker Buster' rocket launchers from Ukraine, a British couple was fined during a court appearance this week, according to the media.
The couple told customs officials that the deactivated weapons were a souvenir from Ukraine that they received before visiting that country, according to the Daily Mail. The weapons were found during a routine search of the couple's van before they boarded a ship to the United Kingdom.
An unnamed investigative source was cited in the newspaper as saying, "They wanted to declare two rocket launchers and other military equipment that they had been given in Ukraine while on a humanitarian mission."
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Officials reportedly discovered 14 spent bullet casings in their car in addition to the rocket launchers, which were believed to be American-made M141s, and a bulletproof vest that was laced with bullet holes. Throughout Kiev's conflict with Moscow, the single shot, shoulder-fired M141 has been widely used by Ukrainian forces.
The weapons' discovery prompted the Calais port to declare an emergency and order an evacuation while bomb disposal specialists were called in to assess whether the rocket launchers posed a threat to the general public. The Daily Mail reported that further investigation revealed the weapons were useless.
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One of the unnamed defendants testified this week in court that the rocket launchers were given to them as "symbols of victory" after a quick, four-day trip to Ukraine. One of them said, "I'm not a collector. "They were gifts as a token of the Ukrainians' victory, which caused us a great deal of trouble at the border."
The additional defendant stated that they had gotten word that bringing decommissioned weapons into England was legal after speaking with British authorities. Unfortunately for us, and we learned this the hard way, it is illegal to transport this type of thing in France.
According to reports, the couple was fined after it was discovered that they had "transport[ed] Category C weapons without legitimate reason."
As part of a $76.8 billion aid package between January 2022 and the end of May 2023, 61% of which ($46.6 billion) is in the form of military assistance, the United States provided Ukraine with numerous M141 rocket launchers. The M141 is frequently employed in assaults against bunkers and other heavily fortified positions, as suggested by its nickname "Bunker Buster".
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According to a Department of Defense report obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, some Western-supplied weapons have found their way into the hands of "criminals, volunteer fighters, and arms traffickers" in Ukraine. This information was reported on by CNN and Military.com on Friday. The report also mentioned "challenges" Washington has had in properly tracing and observing the movements of Western military hardware in Ukraine.