The UN reaction came in response to reports stating that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has opened an investigation into the discovery of assault weapons and narcotics hidden amidst a consignment of trucks being shipped from Mumbai to Indian Army peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Asked about the reports, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric said, "There was a ship, in fact, that did come from Mumbai to Mombasa carrying contingent-owned equipment for the Indian peacekeeping units serving in MONUSCO. Weapons were found by the Kenyan authorities as part of legitimate and declared contingent- owned equipment. The investigation is ongoing."
Dujarric stated that as of now it looks like a "clerical error" where information on the bill of landing was correctly registered but was not transferred to the ship's manifest by the ship's owners.
"We're obviously cooperating fully with the Kenyan authorities, but I don't think there's any...You know, this appears to be a misunderstanding. We're trying to get to the bottom of it," he said.
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"So, anyway, the Kenyan authorities are doing tests, and we're obviously cooperating fully with the Indians," he said.
Earlier in the day, the Indian Army in a statement said, "IA had handed over a consignment of 205 vehicles including 36 APCs (BMPs) with inherent weapons to UN contracted Merchant Vessel (for end to end delivery) at Mumbai on September 11 2015 with detailed list of weapons and equipment."