A Bulgarian army officer has been arrested after he allegedly tried to smuggle a tank out of the country.

Major Alexei Petrov had reportedly stolen the WWll German Panzer IV tank from a military garrison in Elchovo, near the Turkish border.

Although worthless to the army the ancient tank is worth a fortune to collectors, especially to far-right extremists who are keen to snap up anything to do with the war.

He was caught by secret service agents who had been tracking him for months and who discovered he had already managed to ship another similar tank to the West.

He was arrested along with two German accomplices, who it is believed had brokered a deal worth tens of thousands of pounds with war memorabilia collectors.

A huge black market in war-time memorabilia exists, fuelled mainly by the neo-Nazis who want to get their hands on anything connected with the Third Reich.
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Wow...how did he manage to pull that off

I can't imagine it would be that hard once he got it off the base or wherever it was being kept... borders are huge, wilderness still vast, and guards/patrols and such take bribes more than you'd think. =P

Well now that is special.... very very special.

Screw those neo-nazis, give me the tank! I could go... Umm... Deer hunting!

Cool, I'm a quarter Bulgarian. Bulgaria does a lot of arms trading, legal and illegal.

five finger discount man.. he just popped it down his shirt..