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9:57 a.m. • 2-12-12

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Fourth Man Held in Scrap Plant Ammo Case


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Ammo found at Sanford trailer
Ammo found at Sanford trailer

A fourth man has been detained in connection with the discovery last week of military explosives at a Raleigh scrap-metal recycling plant, police said Thursday.

Manuel Sanchez Uriosteget was being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, said Capt. David Smith, of the Sanford Police Department.

Almost three dozen military explosives were found and detonated at Raleigh Metals Recycling last week. Plant owner Greg Brown said a customer sold the munitions to the plant with other scrap metal, and his workers didn't recognize them as live ammunition.

Two workers sustained minor injuries when one of the shells exploded as a load of scrap was being processed, and a team of munitions experts from Fort Bragg detonated other devices over the next four days.

The process forced nearby residents from their homes and required a portion of Garner Road to be shut down for much of the week.

Uriosteget lives in the same mobile home park as Adrian Nunez-Aviles and brothers Javier Gomez-Urieta and Salvador Gomez-Urieta, who were arrested a week ago on immigration violations and have been held for questioning in the munitions case.

A search last week of a mobile home on Carver Drive in Sanford turned up artillery shells in the yard similar to the ones that were dropped off at Raleigh Metals Recycling, including two live rounds.

A search of Uriosteget's trailer also turned up ammunition, Smith said. Investigators located anti-tank weapons, spent 2-millimeter shells and .50-caliber bullets in a yard at the trailer park, he said.

The FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also are investigating the case.

RELATED TOPICS: Raleigh, Fort Bragg, Garner

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Nothing there but spent 50 caliber bullets, which are about as explosive as a rock. WRAL, you need to check your facts.

Yea it looks like they were "mining" the impact areas for spent rounds and empty casings and also got a bunch of live dud rounds as well.

From the pic, it looks like they were spent shells that were dug from the firing range. Unfortunately, when you fire a live mortar or artillery shell and it does not go "BOOM", it is nearly impossible to locate amid all the other spent ammo.

So that is how those illegals got ahold of such powerful military explosives, they dug them from the firing range. Not as safe as stealing copper wiring from electrical substations, but hey...

makes you wonder whats going on in our country that hasn't surfaced yet.

Does anyone know where the scrap came from? The news says that NIS are handling these guys. Will they get in trouble for having having live ammo? Was it illegally acquired or was it from a surplus sale? I still think this is scary.

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