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RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMN #0615/01 3091928
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
R 051928Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0014
INFO RHMFISS/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0001
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 0002
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

S E C R E T MONTEVIDEO 000615 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/05 
TAGS: SNAR ASEC MASS PGOV UY BR
SUBJECT: 700 Illegal Weapons Found in Uruguay 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Robin Matthewman, Charge de Affairs, CDA; REASON: 
1.4(B), (D) 
 
Summary 
 
----------- 
 
 
 
¶1.   (S)  Uruguayan police confiscated over 700 firearms October 
30- November 1, including  handguns, shotguns, military style 
rifles, grenades, rocket propelled grenades, and ammunition from 
what appears to have been an arms trafficking operation.  At least 
five of the confiscated weapons are reported to have been of 
Uruguayan military issue.  The seizure is a demonstration of the 
GOU's rising capacity to detect organized crime, and the ongoing 
investigation will be a test of its ability to prosecute it.  The 
size and content of the cache of weapons underlines the importance 
of post's weapon destruction program.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
Two caches with a total of over 700 weapons 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
 
 
¶2.    (U)  On October 30, Uruguayan National Police and Firemen 
responded to a house fire in the Cerrito de La Victoria 
neighborhood in Montevideo (10 km from the Embassy).  Upon 
searching the house, a large cache of weapons was discovered. 
Documents discovered during the search led police to a house in 
Shangrila, Canelones, located only 3 km from the Montevideo 
neighborhood of Carrasco, where many embassy employees reside. 
 
 
 
¶3.    (U)  On October 31, two members of the Uruguayan National 
Police went to the house in Shangrila to further the investigation. 
There they encountered an Uruguayan citizen (Saul Feldman, 64) the 
apparent owner of the house.   A confrontation ensued, with shots 
being fired between the police and Feldman, during which one of the 
officers was mortally wounded.  Feldman then barricaded himself in 
the house and a standoff ensued until the morning hours of Sunday, 
November 1, when Feldman was killed in another shootout (some press 
reports indicate he killed himself, once surrounded).  Police then 
entered the house and discovered another large cache of weapons. 
 
 
 
¶4.    (U)  To date, more than 700 firearms have been confiscated by 
the police from both houses, including handguns, shotguns, military 
style rifles, grenades, rocket propelled grenades, and ammunition. 
At least five weapons are reported to have belonged to the 
Uruguayan military.  A parallel investigation on weapons  belonging 
to the military has been launched. 
 
 
 
¶5.    (S )  A source told the RSO that approximately 50 Colt 45 
handguns, still in their cases, belonging to the Uruguayan 
military, were discovered in the searches.  The source stated that 
a full accounting of the weapons is going to take at least another 
24 hours and the total amount of weapons confiscated could reach 
over 1,000 in total.  Through an RSO locally engaged staff, 
Uruguayan authorities requested the help of the Embassy in tracing 
the weapons.  RSO has agreed to help, but has not yet been 
approached by the GOU. 
 
 
 
¶6.    (S)  Official Uruguayan identity cards asserting four 
different identities with the same picture were found in the house 
in Montevideo.  A separate RSO source confirmed the existence of 
the different identities and RSO is attempting to obtain 
information on each.  Press reports indicate that the identity 
cards are expired. 
 
 
 
The Investigation 
 
---------------------- 
 
¶7.   (SBU)  Uruguay's Special Court for Organized Crime has created 
 
an investigative committee including participants from the Central 
Bank, the Money Laundering Secretariat, intelligence agencies, and 
Montevideo and Canelones police.  There has of yet been no official 
announcement of the suspect's activity, but most observers suspect 
that this was an arms trafficking operation, with many voices in 
the media suggesting Brazil as the final destination for the arms. 
Note: Media coverage of recent violence in Rio de Janeiro's favelas 
may be a factor in much-voiced suspicions that the arms were headed 
to Brazil.  End note.   The investigation will also address 
Feldman's decision to engage in an hours-long shoot-out that ended 
with his death, considering that arms trafficking is not a codified 
crime in Uruguay and he would have likely received a short 
sentence, if any. 
 
 
 
Comment 
 
----------- 
 
 
 
¶8.   (SBU) This is Uruguay's first encounter with an arm's seizure 
of this magnitude.  Post has long been aware of the risk of 
out-of-use military weapons somehow leaving the control of the 
military, and designed a weapons destruction/repatriation program 
to combat this threat.  Under this program DOD has repatriated 
11,600 M-1 rifles in 2008 that were no longer in use by the 
Uruguayan military, and post is awaiting approval from PM/FO to 
start the destruction (melt down) of 6,700 U.S.-made light weapons 
including rifles, submachine guns, and pistols.  The program will 
include the destruction of 50 tons of outdated munitions.  End 
comment. 
MATTHEWMAN