REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Thursday, March 15, 2001

A GUN-running business supplying crime gangs with weapons was linked to NSW.

The special NSW Police unit which uncovered the operation seized almost 700 weapons, about 50 of them from near Casino, just west of Lismore.

The weapons included various calibre rifles, semiautomatic pistols and an antitank rocket launcher.

Body armour, flak jackets, detonators, explosives and 400,000 rounds of ammunition were also found.

As part of the effort to control the flow of guns to Sydney’s black market, the NSW Police Firearms Registry moved its state operations to Murwillumbah to be closer to the source of the problem.

It was believed guns were being moved from Queensland to Sydney via Victoria.

Weapons apparently came from two sources, “doctored” handguns, which were imported legally from Europe and the US, and from gun parts also legally imported but then illegally assembled.

Guns from the US and Europe were deemed “deactivated” because of spot welding on their barrels. This meant they were not registered and therefore not traceable.

The “damaged” guns were moved by road to gun dealers, collectors or criminals in Victoria and Tasmania. They were then reactivated and made ready for re-sale.

Police discovered that hand guns were being sold for between $500 and $1500 on the Sydney black market.

Motorcycle gangs were believed to be the link between the gun-running operation, crime gangs and Triad groups in NSW.