Spanish police seize large cache of civil war-era weapons

MADRID, Spain - Spain's Interior Ministry says police have arrested 10 men on the suspicion of illegally possessing war weapons after a large arsenal of vintage arms and artillery was seized.

The ministry said in statement Saturday that the items - many in working order - included howitzers, mortars, antiaircraft guns, machine-guns, bombs and hundreds of grenades from the 1930s, most left over from World War II and the Spanish Civil War.

Spanish law prohibits the possession or storage of such arms. Collectors must ensure privately owned war weapons have been certified as unusable by the government.

Archeological artifacts alleged to be illegally owned were seized along with the weapons, including more than 300 Roman, Arab and Iberian coins.

It was not clear when the arrests were made.

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  In this photo taken and released by the Spanish Interior Ministry on Saturday, June 2, 2012, showing weapons and munitions which date back to the Spanish Civil War and Second World War, seized by police. The Interior Ministry says Spanish police have arrested 10-men on Saturday on suspicion of possession of weapons and munitions.(AP Photo/Spanish Interior Ministry)