FT. MCCOY, Wis. — For hobbyists who collect combat military vehicles--something requiring lots of space and understanding neighbors--this military base was a mother lode of rare and illicit goodies.
Was, that is, until Wednesday, when a federal grand jury in Madison indicted seven men in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Iowa for trafficking, largely with collectors, in an estimated $13 million worth (original cost) of exotic military vehicles for the last two years...
...Among more than 150 combat vehicles taken from the base were a self-propelled howitzer cannon, 17 armored personnel carriers with TOW missile launchers (without the missiles), at least a half-dozen tracked cargo carriers and a Vietnam-era Sheridan tank. One mobile missile launcher was sold for $30,000 to an FBI undercover agent, the charges allege.
Other
equipment
, like snowblowers and cranes, were sold to people who planned to use them, such as the operators of a ski resort in Colorado, according to the indictment.
