In an operation that shakes the foundations of regional security, Brazil’s Federal Highway Police seized an arsenal of chilling proportions in Santa Terezinha do Iguaçu, steps from the Triple Frontier. The most serious part: among the 27 long guns seized, an FAL rifle with the Argentine Army coat of arms appeared, confirming the worst fears: the weaponry of our Armed Forces continues to fuel organized crime.
The discovery occurred on June 17, when a 28-year-old truck driver, visibly nervous, confessed that in addition to the animal feed cargo, he was transporting a true arsenal. Agents could not believe what they saw: 27 rifles — including five FALs, two Kalashnikov AK-47s —, 16 pistols, and more than 5,000 rounds of various calibers. One of the long guns bore the national coat of arms and the Argentine Army serial number, irrefutable proof of its military origin.
Suspicions point to this shipment, which according to sources from the Ministry of National Security would have left Paraguay, being destined for the two most powerful mega-criminal organizations in Brazil: the First Capital Command (PCC) and the Red Command. These groups, which now dominate drug trafficking in Latin America, have small factories where they recycle weapons before putting them on the illegal market.
This is not the first time Argentine rifles have appeared in the hands of criminals. Last October, after the bloody clashes in the Alemão and Penha favelas that left 122 dead, an FAL with identical markings had already been seized. The question no one wants to answer is: how do these weapons keep leaving the barracks?
The mother case is a scandal that has gone unresolved for 15 years. In 2014 (or perhaps earlier, no one knows for sure), 43 FAL rifles were stolen from Battalion 603 in Fray Luis Beltrán, Santa Fe. Sergeant Hernán Diego Solís, head of the Weapons Section, was found dead from a gunshot to the head in 2011, in an alleged suicide that was never thoroughly investigated. Since then, the stolen rifles began appearing in narco confrontations in Brazil and Paraguay.
The worst part is that the case was shelved for years in the court of Marcelo Bailaque, the magistrate who resigned last June after being investigated for alleged ties to narco Esteban Alvarado. Only in 2025 did federal prosecutor Javier Arzubi Calvo manage to reactivate the case to prevent it from expiring. But the damage is already done: the system of weapon theft in the Armed Forces was never seriously investigated.
According to Bruno Langeani of the Sou da Paz Institute, the seized weapons undergo a refurbishing process before being sold. Stocks are changed, serial numbers are erased, «ghost» rifles are assembled with fake markings. And everything indicates that part of that process occurs in Argentine, Paraguayan, or Brazilian territory, in a network that no one dares to dismantle.
The most chilling fact: among the 16 seized pistols, five were of the Bersa brand, also of Argentine origin. And the more than 5,000 cartridges included 4,150 of 9 mm, 749 of 7.62 x 51 mm, and 149 of 7.62 x 39 mm, the caliber of assault rifles. An arsenal capable of arming a small army.
Meanwhile, at the Ministry of National Security, headed by Alejandra Monteoliva, they try to distance themselves from the scandal. They claim the truck did not pass through Argentina, but the rifle with the national coat of arms speaks for itself. The lingering question is: how many more FALs are circulating in the illegal market? And most importantly: who is letting them out?
khe loco otro fal argento en brasil? para mi estos milicos venden armas al narco mientras cierran escuelas. esto huele a estado podrido, son todos vendepatria. basta de entregar soberania, viva la revolucion! 🚩
kjjjj mira vos otro FAL argento en manos de narquillos brasucas para mi estos zurditos vende patrias siguen armando criminales mientras chorean nuestros impuestos vergüenza de país mamita querida los milicos deberían meterles una patada en el orto a todos estos traidores viva la patria carajo