Trigger warning over imported ‘ghost guns’
Hundreds of “ghost guns’’ made up of imported plastic frames and metal parts are being sent to Australia via online delivery companies, assembled into semiautomatic handguns and then sold to Sydney criminals fetching anywhere from $15,000 to $40,000 per weapon.
Some are then converted into fully automatic pistols with the attachment of a part called a “switch’’ which costs $5000 to $20,000, depending on the quality. A single 9mm bullet costs around $100 on the black market.
At least one crime syndicate using sophisticated import methods over the past three to four years has stocked up enough parts to make hundreds of the hybrid Glock copies, underworld sources claim.
“The existence of ghost guns is known,” one source said. “A few have turned up and we suspect some members of the Alameddine crime syndicate are setting themselves up as manufacturers and suppliers of these weapons.”
A “switch” was used to convert a Glock into a fully automatic weapon which was used to kill Rami Iskander, shot just days after he was suspected of being involved in the murder
of Omar Zahed and wounding his brother Tarek at a Western Sydney gym in May 2022.
By ordering online from the US using a wide variety of delivery methods and services, criminals are able to bring in the Polymer80 plastic copies of Glock frames which are delivered to Australia often without being X-rayed.
Metal parts such as the barrel, trigger and slide are often coated in lead and labelled as
innocuous items such as paper weights or car parts.
The plastic pistol frames, which cost about $100 online, are undetectable by X-ray, while the metal parts are brought in separately.
“They also put sheets of aluminium over them, or put lots of other metal objects in over and under the barrels which confuses the X-ray’s operator,” one former wellknown member of the Sydney underworld, referred to by some as Mr Gun, said.
“These orders are sent to smash repair and mechanic shops around Sydney as all sorts of things from paperweights or machinery.
“The plastic frames get sent to different addresses, then put together with a simple Allen key in some cases.
“There are instructions online. Nearly anyone can do it.”
These “ghost guns” are considered totally different from 3D printed weapons, which police say they are also seeing being used, but which are unreliable and can often only fire a few shots.
The Polymer80 weapons for all intents and purposes are copies of a Glock pistol with most of its capabilities.
In the US around the 2010s, 80 per cent-completed polymer frames became more popular with gun owners, requiring only hand tools to complete them. Companies such as Polymer80 became well known for being a top producer of frames compatible with Glock Gen 3 parts and above.
In 2022/23 the Australian Border Force detected 840 undeclared conventional firearms, parts and accessories entering the country but does not break down the statistics to show the type of firearm or part detected.