Warsaw on alert over potential post-war arms smuggling from Ukraine

Poland is preparing for a potential large-scale illegal trafficking of weapons from Ukraine following the end of hostilities there, according to Adam Radoń, head of the organised crime unit at the Central Investigative Bureau of the Polish police, in comments published by Rzeczpospolita.

“There is a huge amount of weapons in Ukraine delivered under aid packages, and this is additionally combined with a significant volume of Soviet-era arms. The end of armed conflicts is always associated with the risk of their uncontrolled influx,” Radoń said.

In this context, Polish law enforcement is developing a special plan codenamed “Trident.” 

According to Radoń, the “Trident” project is designed to prepare police officers to detect such smuggling activities and dismantle organised criminal groups involved in them.

The programme includes the purchase of specialised equipment worth 6.6 million zlotys (around $1.8 million), as well as cooperation with border services and relevant authorities in several countries, including the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Ukraine, Moldova, and Spain.

Radoń said Poland should act as a “filter” on the route of such weapons into Europe. “Taking into account the experience gained after the end of military conflicts in Europe and other continents, we take the likelihood of an influx of illegal firearms and ammunition from Ukraine into neighbouring countries and other EU states very seriously,” he emphasised.

He also suggested that one of the key risk factors could be the potential criminalisation of Ukrainian soldiers after demobilisation, following the end of the conflict with Russia.

According to the police representative, no significant influx of weapons from Ukraine has been observed in Poland so far. However, he noted that police have already discovered weapons caches linked to Ukraine, although the sources of their transfer have not yet been established.

By Jeyhun Aghazada