Suspected Cache of Rocket Launchers, Handguns, Hand Grenades Found near Kitakyushu River

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:25 JST, June 1, 2024

A cache of what appeared to be rocket launchers, handguns and hand grenades was found on a river plain in Kitakyushu, the Fukuoka prefectural police announced Friday.

The weapons, found on the plain beside the Murasaki River in Kokura-Minami Ward, are believed to have been dumped. Police said that they were checking out the authenticity of the weapons and investigating a possible link to organized criminal gangs.

According to police, a man and a woman in their 70s were walking along the plain when they found a box containing a handgun and other items and reported it to police at around 4 p.m. on Thursday.

Police rushed to the scene and found the plastic box in the grass. A subsequent search on Friday uncovered several other containers.

Each box contained suspected weapons, which included rocket launchers over one meter in length as well as live ammunition. Over the two days, multiple numbers of each object were found.