Lost ‘Sensitive’ Explosives Gear of U.S. Defense Dept. is Available on eBay for Sale

Recently, some high-profile military gear of the Defense Department of U.S went missing — A leaked US Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) document obtained by Intercept shows the gear is available online for selling on eBay.

It also explains the incapability of the Defense Department to protect the explosives-sensing equipment.

The equipment was given to the agency by the Defense Department’s Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO). Although some of the equipment has been tracked down which are currently on resale on various websites such as eBay, the exact number of the stolen equipment is not known, according to The Intercept.

The total number of equipment pieces was over 32000 and hence it is difficult to figure out as to how many are still with the department and how many are missing. A document issued on March 2014 requests assistance in locating these missing pieces so that they are not used against the U.S and its allies. Also, the inconsistency arose due to some internal issues.

It was mentioned that among the stolen equipment, there were some advanced technologies that were meant to support the U.S military on the battlefield but due to negligence and carelessness on part of the military units some of the equipment went missing.

However, two listings have been found by the Intercept; one being from December last year and the other is of a CNVD-T Clip-On Night Vision Device Thermal System currently active. The price mentioned is $16,599.

JIEDDO has also been spending huge amount of money over its programs without making any ground progress. The report issued in 2012 by the Government Accountability Office, $18 billion dollars have been spent by JIEDDO and still no progress has been seen.

Here are images of lost military gear available online on eBay for sale:

Surprisingly, those who are given military gear by the government seem to have no concern about the equipment and do not even bother to keep track of the gear. This is not the only time that such misplacement have occurred. In fact, there was another incident where such equipment was out of track due to inefficient inventory control systems.

The 1033 program sets out the giving away of equipment to local law enforcement agencies seems to be messed up and inappropriate. Due to this, many law agencies have lost their access to military gear after misplacing many significant items.

The NICS is still silent about the leaked document. 

You can go through the leaked NICS document below:

Source: The Intercept | Follow @HackRead