Tons of Arms Found in Africa-Bound Ship

BREST, France — About 500 tons of machine guns, bazookas and other armaments--enough for what officials called a “mini-coup”--were seized and a 13-man crew arrested from a ship forced into port by a storm while sailing toward Sierra Leone, authorities said Saturday.

French customs officials and police investigators said the Panamanian-registered Silver Sea was discovered by the French navy in a quiet cove near the Atlantic port of Brest. They added that they believed crew members were mercenaries recruited and employed to deliver the arms.