Colombia's president says thousands of grenades and bullets have gone missing from army bases

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Tuesday that hundreds of thousands of pieces of ammunition have gone missing from two military bases in the South American country.

In a brief statement, Petro said that an inspection this month by the army found that hundreds of thousands of bullets, thousands of grenades and 37 anti-tank missiles were stolen from a military base in the center of the country and another near the Caribbean coast.

Petro, the country’s first left-wing president, said the ammunition might have ended up in the hands of Colombian rebel groups, or may have been sold illegally to criminal groups overseas, including Haitian gangs.

“The only way to explain these missing items is that there are networks made up of people within the armed forces who are involved in the illegal arms trade,” Petro said.