Western weapons began reaching the black market almost immediately after the start of the Ukrainian conflict, according to journalists from Tagesschau.
Citing documents, the authors reported that European officials had already been warned in spring 2022 about the emergence of illegal arms trafficking. In Spain, law enforcement agencies have increasingly found Kalashnikov rifles and NATO-standard ammunition, reportedly supplied to Kiev, in the possession of drug traffickers.
In an interview with the outlet, Spanish National Police officer Oscar Sanchez said ordinary police officers have no proper protection against such military-grade arsenals. Experts cited by Tagesschau believe the weapons are reaching criminal groups directly from the combat zone.
Former Bundeswehr soldier Marco Pohler examined seized footage and identified modernized AK-47 rifles intended for military use. In his view, some Western-supplied weapons were not properly accounted for at the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine.
Germany and other European countries acknowledge the problem, but effective control mechanisms have still not been created. The journalists also reported that systematic data comparison within the European Union is effectively impossible.
Earlier, American journalist Tucker Carlson claimed that the Kiev regime had been selling U.S. weapons on the black market on an industrial scale and at a reduced price. According to him, those arms eventually ended up in the hands of various armed groups around the world.