Photo: Sao Paolo Military Police on Facebook
It was a regular raid conducted by Sao Paolo Police, Monday night, who was looking for stollen cars in Sacoma, a low-income district in the largest city of Brazil the other day. That is until officers found something rather surprising. Among some auto parts and 500 TV sets, officers also stumbled upon two army tanks.
Even though it appeared the two military vehicles were retired and did not belong to the army, police is now investigating the cause.
The army officers conducting the search were quite surprised to find that there were not only stolen goods stocked in the warehouse, but also two war machines. According to what the Brazilian army police said in a statement, the two tanks found Monday had been auctioned off “without weapons or engines because they no longer had any use.” It would appear the war machines were auctioned by Engesa, the Brazilian armored vehicle manufacturer.
While the owners of the tank claim they have papers that prove they have legally bought the tanks, police is still investigating over the weird discovery. Moreover, the warehouse’s caretaker was taken into custody.
As to the type of the vehicles, police have yet to identify the exact model. As far as we can tell from the pictures released by local media, however, the vehicle looks like a M41 Walker Bulldog light tank.
The main battle tanks Brazilian Army is currently using are the German Leopard 1 and the American M60 Patton, but the model in question is an older version which most likely has nothing to do with the modern equipment the South American country is using. Nevertheless, we’re pretty sure civilians should not own such heavy war machines if they can’t prove they legally purchased it.
Even though it appeared the two military vehicles were retired and did not belong to the army, police is now investigating the cause.
The army officers conducting the search were quite surprised to find that there were not only stolen goods stocked in the warehouse, but also two war machines. According to what the Brazilian army police said in a statement, the two tanks found Monday had been auctioned off “without weapons or engines because they no longer had any use.” It would appear the war machines were auctioned by Engesa, the Brazilian armored vehicle manufacturer.
While the owners of the tank claim they have papers that prove they have legally bought the tanks, police is still investigating over the weird discovery. Moreover, the warehouse’s caretaker was taken into custody.
As to the type of the vehicles, police have yet to identify the exact model. As far as we can tell from the pictures released by local media, however, the vehicle looks like a M41 Walker Bulldog light tank.
The main battle tanks Brazilian Army is currently using are the German Leopard 1 and the American M60 Patton, but the model in question is an older version which most likely has nothing to do with the modern equipment the South American country is using. Nevertheless, we’re pretty sure civilians should not own such heavy war machines if they can’t prove they legally purchased it.
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