An embarrassing scandal has hit Paraguayan police after it emerged that 42 rifles held in storage were actually toys. Officers have also ‘lost’ some 90 handguns since the start of the year, it emerged.

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The rifle issue came to light last week, when the police admitted that at least 42 FN FAL rifles went missing from its armory in the city of Capiatá. The rifles has been held in storage as they were replaced with new models of smaller caliber. The stolen weapons were still operational.

The rifles began appearing on the black market last year, which prompted the country’s military to investigate and ultimately led to gun-by-gun inventory checks within the police force. It was then discovered that 42 rifles in the Capiatá police inventory were actually plastic and wooden replicas.

Photos of the fake guns indicate that the were actually well-made and could be easily mistaken for real ones.

So far, no arrests over the rifle scandal have been reported, yet several police officials were dismissed from their duty and put under investigation. Apart from experiencing trouble with heavy weaponry, police in Paraguay have also ‘lost’ 90 handguns since the start of the year, Interior Minister Juan Ernesto Villamayor revealed.

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