Police in Paraguay found an unpleasant surprise while inspecting their cache of weaponry.

It seems that thieves plundered more than 40 rifles from a law enforcement armory in Capiata, a town near the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion. Police didn't notice because the criminals replaced the stolen guns with wooden and plastic fakes.

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Roban 42 fusiles de guerra que estaban resguardados en un cuartel policial y lo reemplazan por réplicas de juguete. https://t.co/FP6xCO3F6n pic.twitter.com/ukoXoUnlDY — ABC Digital (@ABCDigital) August 25, 2018

The police started to think something was amiss when the FN FAL battle rifles began to show up on the black market, where they can fetch upwards of $10,000. Paraguayan authorities then ordered an inventory of their armory. That's when they discovered the con and figured out 42 FAL rifles of Brazilian origin were missing. Says the BBC:

Some of them are thought to have ended up in Argentina while others are believed to have been smuggled to Brazil. Neighboring Brazil has long complained that many of the illegal weapons seized there have been smuggled into the country from Paraguay.

The police have replaced the officer in charge of the armory, but so far no arrests have been made in the theft.

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