Brazil police raiding warehouse for stolen goods find two military tanks

A Brazilian police raid to recover stolen cars and cargo came up with a more interesting find: two war tanks.

Police in Brazil’s biggest city said on Tuesday that the engine-less tanks were found inside a warehouse in Sacoma, a low-income district in São Paulo. Police also confiscated 500 television sets, car body parts and a recently stolen semitrailer truck.

Army officers told the UOL internet portal that the two tanks found on Monday did not belong to the army and that their origin would be investigated. Officials did not say what sort of tanks they were or how old they might be. Images published by local media show a treaded vehicle with five road wheels on each side.

Phone calls and emails to the police and army were not immediately returned.

“It is unusual, to say the least, that police officers searching for stolen goods and cars, instead find two tanks,” police lieutenant Andrei do Carmo told the Globo TV network.

According to UOL, the sons of the warehouse’s owner told police the tanks were purchased legally in an auction in 2003 and that they had the documents to prove it.

The warehouse’s caretaker was taken into custody.