A large cache of antique Nazi weapons adorned with symbols of the Third Reich was discovered during a search of a house in Buenos Aires. Argentine police have arrested the resident for questioning.
The Argentine Federal Police found over 60 weapons in the suspect's home, including 43 rifles decorated with Nazi eagle insignias, 15 pistols, five bayonets and a machine gun. "The authorities confiscated Nazi flags, military uniforms, hats, helmets and Hitler statues," the police said in a statement. Personnel from the Buenos Aires Holocaust Museum assisted in the operation.
Footage of forces seizing Nazi memorabilia in Buenos Aires
(Video: Argentine Defense Ministry)
The items were discovered in a house in Quilmes, south of the Buenos Aires metro area. Police had been monitoring the man after he traveled abroad. The investigation, named Operation Nevada, was initiated by the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina and coordinated with Argentine authorities by organized crime prosecutor Santiago Marquevich.
The case’s goal is to dismantle a criminal organization trafficking weapons in countries like the U.S., Greece, Mexico and Australia.
In July, authorities began monitoring the Argentine suspect. Weeks of surveillance revealed the man was in Europe and set to return soon. Police began tailing him from his arrival at Ezeiza International Airport to his home in Bernal, where activities linked to arms smuggling were reportedly carried out.
The operation also uncovered taxidermized heads of Indian antelopes, violating environmental protection laws and involving the environmental crime unit.
The Holocaust Museum team confirmed the authenticity of Nazi-related artifacts, which violate anti-discrimination laws prohibiting the promotion of totalitarian regimes.
"We uncovered an international network trading weapons and Nazi symbols. All of this was found in the home of a criminal arrested in Quilmes,” Argentina's Security Minister Patricia Bullrich wrote on her X account alongside a video of the confiscated items.
“Following investigation and surveillance, police raided his home, arrested him and seized weapons from one of humanity's darkest and most tragic periods,” she added.
After World War II, many veteran Nazis, including Adolf Eichmann – who was captured in a Mossad operation and executed in Israel – migrated to Argentina to evade prosecution for war crimes.
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