Apostolos Tomaras
As investigations continue into the theft of a large quantity of TNT, early findings by police and the National Guard appear to be leading authorities back more than a decade, to 2012, when another serious explosives theft shook the military.
With the Defence Ministry openly alarmed over ammunition security, information available to both police and the General Staff of the National Guard points to striking similarities between the current case and an earlier incident involving stolen explosives from National Guard stockpiles.
According to leaks and information obtained by K, officers investigating the case believe a nearly identical operation took place 14 years ago, when National Guard officials managed to track down the perpetrators, members of Limassol’s criminal underworld.
Then, as now, initial evidence suggested either a suspicious relationship between National Guard personnel responsible for destroying military material and the criminals or a troublingly relaxed attitude toward safety protocols during these operations.
Either way, the latest theft highlights what appears to be a recurring problem: the repeated discovery of weak links within the National Guard that allow military equipment or explosives to go missing.
The 2012 case
Military sources say revisiting the 2012 TNT theft at the Kalo Chorio firing range could provide crucial direction in the current investigation and possibly lead authorities to those responsible.
According to the same sources, the latest incident is almost a carbon copy of what happened in 2012, raising questions about whether security loopholes identified back then were ever properly closed.
That case involved the destruction of artillery shells, a task still carried out today by specially trained National Guard personnel. Files from the time show that the shells were transported by road from military warehouses in Palodia to the Kalo Chorio firing range.
Investigators later discovered that the explosives were stolen in two separate phases.
Right under their noses
Under destruction protocols, a specially designated area had been set up inside the firing range to ensure the safety of both military personnel and civilians who might be in the wider area for work-related reasons.
The operation was overseen by a senior National Guard officer, who coordinated the teams inside the firing range and prepared the destruction process. According to protocol, the ammunition was placed in underground “nests.”
Before placement, bomb disposal experts added TNT, which was always carefully counted and formally assigned to the personnel responsible for placing it.
Military sources involved in the 2012 investigation said the commanding officer never authorized detonation without carrying out double and triple checks.
All personnel involved would return to the observation post, where a roll call was taken to prevent accidents. The officer would then confirm by radio that the TNT had been properly placed and was ready for detonation. A perimeter check followed to ensure no civilians had entered the area.
The entire process took about one hour, enough time, it later emerged, for TNT to disappear.
Investigators found that criminals had been hiding inside the firing range, removing explosives from some of the nests while security checks were under way. At the time, information pointed to inside cooperation between National Guard personnel and the criminals, a concern that is once again troubling Defense Ministry leadership today.
Stolen on the road
The firing range was not the only point of theft.
Investigators later uncovered serious breaches in transport protocols between the Palodia warehouses and the firing range. Officers probing the 2012 case discovered that the military convoy transporting material for destruction had stopped along the way for a coffee break.
That pause created the opportunity for criminals to remove material, later extracting the explosive charges. Boxes of artillery shells destined for destruction were eventually found to have been stolen en route to Kalo Chorio.
Defense Ministry alarmed
Defense Minister Vasilis Palmas’ reaction reflects the gravity of the current case, which involves the theft of 13.6 kilograms of TNT.
Visibly angered, Palmas said he would not “hide behind my finger” and expressed his “strong and clear indignation” over the incident.
He added that regardless of the outcome of the investigations being carried out by the National Guard and police, responsibility exists, and that responsibility becomes even heavier if the stolen explosives have ended up in criminal hands.
