NORAID, Money and Guns
 

NORAID, MONEY AND GUNS

The table below lists the weapons supplied to IRA terrorists from the US. Most of the IRA's weaponry is supplied indirectly from third country sources such as Libya, where weapons export is more accessible and has the support of a regime sympathetic to terrorism. 

ORIGIN
YEAR
TYPE OF WEAPONS
OTHER INFORMATION
USA
1969/70
70 Small Arms: (M1 Carbines, M3 "Grease Guns", some small arms and 60,000 rounds of ammunition.)
N/A
USA
1970
Armalite AR-15 Rifles.
Irish Government seizes weapons. Four later acquitted in famous arms trial.
USA
1971
Small arms and ammunition.
Smuggled by Republican sympathisers in Philadelphia.
Czechoslovakia
1971
4.5 tons of small arms
Seized by police at Dublin port after being unloaded from a US ship.
USA
Early 1970s
M-16s and AR-15s.
N/A
USA
1974
100 Rifles.
Czech-made weapons supplied by Colonel Ghadaffi. Seized by Irish authorities.
USA
1977
M-60 MGs x6 and M-16 Rifles x100.
US Treasury Department foils IRA plot. Five later imprisoned in the USA.
USA
1973-78
Estimated 500,000 5.56 x 45 mm cartridges.
Arms stolen from US Army Depot - Transported to Ireland by "Harrison network".
USA
1979
More than 150 guns and 60,000 rounds.  Included M-60 MGs, M-16s, M-14s and AK-47.
Stolen from a US Army base in North Carolina. Transported by "Harrison network".
USA
1981
MAC-10 SMGs x350 and AK-47 x12.
Smuggled to Ireland by "Harrison network". Seized at Dublin port by police.
USA
1982
50 firearms and ammunition.
FBI foils plot by "Harrison network". Leads to the network's break-up.
USA
1982
200 cases of mixed ammunition.
In Newark US Customs discovers arms in truck. Four IRA men later imprisoned.
USA
1983
Explosives.
Five men arrested entering USA from Canada. Suspected of intending to buy ammunition for IRA - "shopping list" found.
USA
1984
Seven tons of arms, ammunition and explosives.
FBI foils IRA bid to smuggle weapons in Wyoming. Man arrested.
USA
1985
Small arms.
Irish Navy seizes cargo onboard "Marita Ann". Men jailed in USA and Ireland. Supplied by notorious Boston drugs gang.
USA
Date Unknown
Small arms.
FBI foils bid to buy arms. Irishman deported.
USA
1986
Redeye SAMs, M-60 MGs, M-16 Rifles, 11 Bulletproof vests.
N/A
USA
Date Unknown
Small arms
FBI foils plot to fly arms cargo by plane from Boston to Ireland. Several convictions follow.
USA
1988
Small arms (designated as "high-powered rifles")
N/A
USA
1982-88
Bomb detonators, anti-aircraft missile system.
US Customs foil bid to buy arms from Alabama gun dealer. Two men jailed.
USA
1990
Homemade missile system.
Group of IRA supporters jailed in Boston.
USA
Late 1980s/Early 1990s
Stinger Missiles
FBI foils IRA plot to purchase Stinger missiles on the Black Market.
This is the extent of statistics available at present, the IRA and other Republican groups continue to be supplied with weapons from the US, the most recent discovery was in the summer of 1999. Most imports go undiscovered and unreported.