Monaco’s Prosecutor General has confirmed that weapons found in a vehicle during a police operation were airsoft replicas, following a widely shared social media report that officers had discovered handguns.
In a statement sent to the press on Friday 16th October, Stéphane Thibault said: “Following the circulation on social media of photographs of a Sûreté Publique operation during which weapons were discovered in a vehicle, I wish to clarify that these were imitation weapons of the ‘airsoft’ type, firing plastic pellets, and that no offence was identified.”
The clarification follows a post by local news news.mc on Instagram and Threads, which stated that “two handguns” had “reportedly been found during a vehicle search on Rue des Iris” in Monaco. Photographs accompanying the post showed police officers gathered around a silver car, with objects resembling pistols on its roof. It received thousands of reactions.
The post did not identify the source of the handgun claim, and searches by Monaco Life found no other reports beyond the same account’s post on Threads.
The statement from the General Prosecutor comes as international interest in safety in Monaco has heightened following a bomb attack in June, in which three people were injured when an explosive device detonated at the entrance to a residential building.
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Photo taken from news.mc instagram post