 Reedman carried instructions from Salisbury to spend up to £ 3 million on European weapons , aircraft and equipment as soon as he could . The Rhodesian government now believed that it would almost certainly declare independence unilaterally and , knowing the purchase of materiel would be more difficult following this , wished to have the Rhodesian Security Forces ' necessary ammunition , weapons , spare parts and other equipment in place beforehand . Soon after arriving in Portugal , Reedman contacted the Lisbon @-@ based <unk> brothers , José , Luiz and Jean , who had recently supplied the Portuguese Armed Forces in Angola with British @-@ made weapons in direct contravention of NATO 's embargo against arming Portugal 's African @-@ based troops . The Zoios were interested in stocking Rhodesia 's arsenal , and promptly agreed to arrange an order of weapons from a third party on Reedman 's behalf in exchange for a letter of credit from the Rhodesian government . 
