Dangerous diving knives stolen from Finnish historical association still missing, police and locals on alert
Diving knives specially made for use by divers are still missing after being stolen from a storage facility in Turku, Finland, just before midsummer. The dangerous knives were taken along with other diving gear from the storage facility of the Finnish Diving Historical Association in Korois. The theft remains unsolved.
The association and the police are concerned that the stolen blades, in the wrong hands, can cause significant harm. The missing knives and daggers, about 20 in total, are particularly dangerous. The largest ones have a serrated edge on one side and a sharp blade on the other.
“Wrongly used, these are truly dangerous. With them, you don’t cause minor wounds but really serious harm,” said Jouko Moisala, Chairman of the Association. The whereabouts of the diving knives are unknown, but there is concern that knives have been used as weapons in violent situations multiple times this summer. “They have been small knives, but these are real weapons,” Moisala says.
The police and active members of the association are now monitoring online sales channels in case the knives are attempted to be sold. Moisala hopes that residents in the areas of Turku Korois, Kärsämäki, and Raunistula would be vigilant about what is happening around them. He suspects a group of young people behind the burglary and believes that parents should be alarmed if strange objects start appearing at home.
The storage building of the victimized Diving Historical Association is located next to an old stone transformer building. This abandoned building has suffered a lot in recent years. Places have been vandalized and broken, and various movable items have disappeared from the building. It is now being investigated whether the same group of perpetrators is behind both incidents.
In addition to the diving knives, two pairs of heavy-duty bronze diving boots, weighing 12 kilograms per pair, went missing from the Finnish Diving Historical Association’s storage. Several camera cases, cameras, brass lights for a compass, and several diver’s lights also disappeared. The stolen items were insured.
As a result of the burglary, the Finnish Diving Historical Association will move its items from Turku to Lohja, where it will cooperate with the Luksia educational institution. At the institution, one can obtain a professional diving qualification.