Thieves stole 42 rifles from a police armoury in Paraguay and replaced them with toy replicas, with authorities only realising after the dangerous weapons started appearing on the black market. 

Paraguayan media reported that FN FAL rifles, which were in storage in Capiatá, had been replaced with wooden and plastic replicas and called the revelation “the most embarrasing scandal” in the history of the country’s police force.

The discovery was made after rifles began appearing for sale on the black market. Some of the stolen weapons are believed to have been smuggled into neighbouring Argentina and Brazil.

"I'm not sure whether to criticise the ineptitude of the police force or praise the imagination of the culprits," one commentator said on Twitter.