U.S. 5th Fleet seizes weapons shipment from stateless dhow in Arabian Sea

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Navy guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG-61) sails in the Bosphorus, on its way to the Black Sea, in Istanbul, Turkey March 19, 2021. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

CAIRO (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet said on Saturday that the guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61) seized an illicit shipment of weapons from a stateless dhow in international water of the North Arabian Sea on May 6-7.

"The cache of weapons included dozens of advanced Russian-made anti-tank guided missiles, thousands of Chinese Type 56 assault rifles, and hundreds of PKM machine guns, sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenades launchers. Other weapon components included advanced optical sights," the Bahrain-based Fleet said in a statement.