More Photos: Guns Seized from US Treasure Hunters. Second Cache Found-Total 37

[Patrimony]

Photo from Diario News. Part of weapons cache seized from treasure hunter's house near Salinas. Newspaper reports that a second cache was seized from the ESSCAR treasure hunting company from another safe house they rent in Esmeraldas and that the total of high caliber weapons taken is now up to 37. According to the press quoting officials: many of the weapons are reportedly with either expired permits or have none at all. Persons caught with weapons with expired permits face 1-2 years in prison per count in Ecuador while non permit penalties carry an automatic 6 years. More photos and articles to follow.

 

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[Patrimony]

Re: Photos: Items Seized from Treasure Hunter's Home. Second Cache busted-Total 37

More pictures of the ESSCAR weapons seizures. El Universo reports official sources as saying that a total of 37 high caliber weapons were seized which includes more found at an ESSCAR safe house in Esmeraldas and that many were either with expired permits or were completely undocumented.

Possession of weapons with expired permits carry a 1-2 year prison term and six years madatory for unregistered. The paper also reports that investigations continue to determine if anyone else besides the custodian who was the only person in the house at the time of the raids will be arrested or charged. Treasury agents and military intelligence officials are further studying how the weapons were obtained, by whom and how they entered the country

 

[Patrimony]

Re: Photos: Items Seized from Treasure Hunter's Home. Second Cache busted-Total 37

El Universo article reporting 37 high caliber weapons seized.

 

[EDDE]

Re: Photos: Items Seized from Treasure Hunter's Home. Second Cache busted-Total

i believe EVERYTHING a 3rd world newspaper writes/says

 

[FISHEYE]

Re: More Photos: Guns Seized from US Treasure Hunters. Second Cache Found-Total

The ESSCAR treasure hunting company will have to leave Ecuador now that they dont have any more weapons to fight off pirates.

 

[chipveres]

I work for a major city high school in the United States, and we have consistent trouble teaching Hispanic students mathematics. Now I see why:

2 rifles + 1 machine pistol + 1 shotgun = 37 weapons?

Chip V.

 

[MoTwister]

Make's you wonder what kind of treasure they found to require that kind of fire power.

 

[Bobadilla]

Something especially for Edit Elf Name and Chipveres Forum members.....

I do not know you personally but I doubt that you would be living in some third world country for more than one month. Otherwise you should not probably write such a sarcastic remarks. I have been living in poor countries of Latin and Central America and in the Caribbean for more than 25 years now, though I was born and raised in Europe, and you would be surprise how many intelligent and clever people live there. Regarding treasure hunting business it is the same. I know personally many third world countries citizens who are honest and work hard, unlike some that I know from "highly developed countries". I have made many friends in many countries of the world during my life and I do not distinguish between poor and rich, black and white. Good people and bad people, honest and dishonest ones live in every country on this planet. But to have high technology at hand does not mean that you can insult whoever you want. And if you think that your newspaper always write the truth, I feel very sorry for you.

By the way, as you surely noticed, English is not my mother language. Sorry, if you want to be also sarcastic with my English just because I live in Dominican Republic, no trouble, in this case we could speak in German, Spanish, Czech, Slovak or Russian. I do not know how you two, but I do not mind which one.

Bobadilla

 

[Patrimony]

The number 37 included the arms confiscated in Esmeraldas but no pictures or inventory has been released on those yet and there may be some security reason why they do not wish to show those weapons at this time or reveal which government agency was involved in their seizure.

The acronym G.I.R has been mentioned in rumours I have heard. That organizaton is a super secret anti-terrorist special forces group with extraordinary police powers and in charge of State security and protecting the President. More like Secret Service. The items taken in Salinas however were displayed and itemized for the media and that particular raid seems to have been conducted as a lesser important side show and was carried out by other organizations.

If they were just checking permits and everything was in order they would not have carted it all away. This was not just local cops responding to a noise complaint.

Meanwhile, I doubt if ESSCAR'S Weapons have been returned with an apology for a misunderstanding yet but we will just have to wait and see what the findings of the investigation and any reccomendations from State Prosecutors Office reveal. As in any police case: There may not be any more news for a few weeks while decisons are formulated and investigations completed and evidence findings are submitted to prosecuting authorities for disposition through the legal system. Same as in US.

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Hola Bobadillo I agree with you.

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[signumops]

Heimdal (or Heimdahl) lived in the jungle near the Columbian border, reputedly at a gold placer mine, according to what he is quoted as saying to the press. He was kidnapped and held by "revolutionaries" of some brand awaiting ransom. Eventually freed, he setup in Esmeraldes where he might have found some stuff sooner or later, but now we hear he wants to do the Capitana again (nothing left but splinters).

Columbia, mountains, guns, cash flow, American air base, Esmeraldes (which is not close to Punta Elena)
+
new motivated, educated Ecuadorean president stuck right between Columbia and Bolivia where the coca grows.
+
other Americans still ernestly shipwreck treasure hunting in Ecuadorian waters without a problem
What do you think?

 

[Patrimony]

To answer the last question about ork climate and security in Ecuador:

I have two companies down here which hold leases on 4 non contiguous areas totaling 200 sq miles and which contain all of the remaining major documented, discovered and yet undiscovered wrecks which are noted on Spanish or English colonial charts. We have recently imported a wonderful Sea Spy magnetometer from Canada and have been busy surveying huge swaths of our concessions for the past few months.

The only problem we have had recently here is when their new president signed a decree back on October 25 requiring all vessels to be redocumented with a new ministry of the government and to also undergo inspections for false hulls and contraband tanks prior to also being issued a fuel ration or allocation.

This has set back our excavation plans at Jama by two months while we had to take a number and get in line with all the other attorneys and ship owners to comply. We finally received our inspection on Thanksgiving day and our sailing and work permits for the ship are supposed to finally be done this week...maybe. However, this process is nothing personally directed against us...and all vessels here, domestic and foreign, have had to undergo it or are in process of doing so under the same new reglamento. It has been tedious and some times frustrating crawling through this paper process but when I think of how poorly we were often treated by some of the bureaucratic systems we had to wade through in the process of being able to conduct similar projects in Florida, I realize that this is not even half as bad.

Further, the matter of redocumenting the ship has had no affect on our leases nor upon our freedom to keep up our survey and search work while all branches of the military and the cultural patrimony officials whom we must work through have been very supportive and encouraging....not metion apologetic for what we have had to go through lately. So, I don't have any complaints and, if anything, they have cut us a lot of liberties and slack in other areas.

I am also signing some papers in a few days to take over the salvage rights of two other companies with leases here and thus add another 100 sq miles to our search zone. Within one of the new areas, a producing coin wreck which has long been proven but was contested but never worked due to past dissent amongst the previous owner group. We now hope to get some nice new material on the coin market early next year.

Regarding security issues: Like any place...there are some parts of big cities one wants to avoid but the country folk and fishermen here are pretty much salt of the Earth and friendly and will help you out in a heartbeat if needed.
I have been coming down here 3-4 months a year since 1997 and have travelled all over the country and have never been robbed, stolen from or threatened and I don't even own or carry a sling shot! We do have a legal permit to keep a pistol on the ship but the captain has never had any call to draw it, yet. There are stories of pirates at sea but they are mostly the kind that pull up in a motor launch at night and steal outboards off small fishing skiffs. We don't creep around the Colombian border where the FARC play around and so are not looking for trouble either.

When we are magging we always have a marine assigned to us free of charge to provide an official presence and for security..and the bad guys, if there are any around, know that and steer clear of us. Two armed special forces divers are also along on the ship when we excavate to both assist and provide security and so who needs to own a private arsenal? We are essentially a deputised military vessel when working and so if anyone attacks the ship they would be essentially attacking the army and navy too and most bad guys don't want to take on those kinds of odds or heat. So stealing from poor fishing skiffs is about as far as most of them will go.

P

 

[chipveres]

In one way, I agree with Mr. Bodabilla. I doubt there is enough left on that wreck to justify salvage, let alone justify the use of deadly force. And hooligans are hooligans in any language.

Chip V.