On Tuesday (November 3, 2009) a special Israeli naval force detained and boarded the MV Francop, a merchant ship flying the flag of Antigua and destined for the Syrian port of Latakia.
Hidden among the dozens of other containers on board, and disguised as civilian goods, the ship contained a consignment of 36 shipping containers with 500 tons of arms en route via Syria to the Hizbullah terrorist organization in Lebanon. A total of about 9,000 mortar bombs of different types were seized, along with about 3,000 Katyusha artillery rockets, 3,000 recoilless gun shells, 20,000 grenades and over a half million rounds of small arms ammunition.
Iran routinely smuggles weapons to terrorist groups it supports. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards transfer their shipments over air, sea, and land routes, and do not hesitate to make use of civilian carriers, often without their knowledge.
An examination of the munitions seized proves conclusively that the source of the arms was Iran. This is clear both from the shipping documents and the markings on the munitions themselves.
All photos unless otherwise marked: IDF Spokesperson