![Thousands of AK-47 assault rifles sit on the flight deck of guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans during an inventory process on January 7. US naval forces seized 2,116 AK-47 assault rifles from a fishing vessel transiting along a maritime route from Iran to Yemen. [US Navy]](/cnmi_am/images/2023/01/10/40239-us-navy-rifles-700_496.webp)
DUBAI -- The US Navy on Tuesday (January 10) said it seized 2,116 AK-47 assault rifles from a fishing boat along a well-known maritime smuggling route from Iran to Yemen.
The cargo was discovered Friday off the coast of Oman "on a route historically used to traffic illicit cargo to the Houthis in Yemen", the US Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet said in a statement.
The "stateless dhow" was crewed by six Yemeni nationals, it said.
"The transfer of the vessel and its crew for repatriation is in progress," the 5th Fleet said, adding that "the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of weapons to the Houthis violates" international law.
![Thousands of AK-47 assault rifles sit on the flight deck of guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans during an inventory process on January 7. [US Navy]](/cnmi_am/images/2023/01/10/40238-Seized-assault-rifles-700_496.webp)
Thousands of AK-47 assault rifles sit on the flight deck of guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans during an inventory process on January 7. [US Navy]
A team from the USS Chinook patrol coastal ship boarded the vessel with support from the Cyclone-class patrol ship USS Monsoon and the guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
"The illegal flow of weapons through international waterways has a destabilising effect on the region," said CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla.
"We are committed to the security and stability of the region and the enforcement of international law," he said.
"Alongside our partner forces, CENTCOM will deter and interdict this kind of lethal material into the region whether it comes by air, land or sea."
"This shipment is part of a continued pattern of destabilising activity from Iran," said US 5th Fleet commander Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of US Naval Forces Central Command and the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF).
"These threats have our attention," he said. "We remain vigilant in detecting any maritime activity that threatens freedom or compromises regional security."
The United Nations Security Council imposed an arms embargo on the Houthis last February.
In December, the US Navy said it had seized one million rounds of ammunition along with rocket fuses and propellant being smuggled on a fishing trawler from Iran to Yemen.
In November, the US Navy said it had scuttled a boat transporting "explosive materials" from Iran to supply the Houthis, with enough power to fuel a dozen ballistic missiles.
Protecting regional waters
The US 5th Fleet operating area includes 21 countries, the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean and three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, Bab al-Mandeb and Suez Canal.
It operates as part of the CMF, a 34-nation naval partnership that patrols regional waters and regularly apprehends arms smuggling operations as well as shipments of illegal drugs.
The CMF has seized almost $1 billion worth of illicit narcotics since 2021 while patrolling international waters in the Middle East.
On December 27, a French warship seized illegal drugs worth a total estimated US street value of $24 million from a fishing vessel transiting international waters in the North Arabian Sea, the CMF said.
French Marine Nationale frigate FS Guépratte was patrolling regional waters in support of Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150) when it seized 3,492kg of hashish and 472kg of heroin from the fishing vessel.
Led by the Royal Saudi Navy, CTF 150 is one of four CMF task forces organised under the CMF.
Guépratte previously seized 271kg of heroin from another fishing vessel while patrolling the Gulf of Oman in February 2022.
