Anti-tank missiles found in van in Italy, man arrested

A French man was arrested in Italy on arms trafficking charges after police found three anti-tank missiles and other military equipment in his van, authorities said Wednesday.

The man, identified as 46-year-old Regis Normand, was arrested in June in the southern port of Bari and remains in custody, prosecutors told AFP. Police inspected the van after it disembarked from a ferry arriving from Patras in Greece.

Judicial documents seen by AFP said police found three Akeron portable anti-tank missiles, a training missile with no warhead and a launch tube. The documents said the weapons were disguised as NATO training equipment.

Prosecutors said Normand, who is from the Paris region, told police the missiles had undergone repairs on the Greek island of Crete and that he was transporting them back to Akeron maker MBDA France.

A French source with knowledge of the matter told AFP that MBDA had obtained a licence to conduct tests of incomplete Akeron missiles in Greece. MBDA France did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Authorities ordered further investigations, citing the lack of permits for transporting the weapons and discrepancies in the documentation provided.

The Akeron is a land and naval combat missile designed for open field or urban warfare, according to MBDA's website.