Gun runners arrested
Large cache of weapons and explosives seized
A CRIMINAL network which was supplying weapons to organised gangs has been taken down by the Guardia Civil.
Officers seized 60 firearms, 4,900 bullets of different calibres, counterfeit money and other items – as well as uncovering a marijuana plantation. They raided premises in the provinces of Alicante, Toledo, Navarra, Barcelona, Girona, Segovia, Madrid and the Basque Country.
At the same time they arrested six people and are investigating three others for trafficking weapons, possession of illegal weapons and explosives, forging money and falsifying documents, amongst other crimes.
An investigation was started last year when the Guardia Civil found that firearms were being sold over the internet and then sent on via a courier service to the buyers.
Detectives learned that a suspect based in the Basque Country was passing himself off as an authorised arms dealer. However, he was selling weapons to ‘delinquents all over the country’.
According to a force spokesman, the investigation also discovered that the suspect had a secret workshop in which ammunition was manipulated and manufactured. A similar workshop was located in Alicante province, which was run by another of the suspects who is under arrest, according to the spokesman.
He noted that this 40-yearold Spaniard was based in Bigastro and he bought starting pistols to turn them into working firearms.
The swoop on the organisation also managed to net the principal buyers of the weaponry, ‘who were connected to organised crime’.
One of these suspects had been on the run for a number of years and several warrants had been issued for his arrest, although he was using a false identity when he was detained.
The spokesman explained that the operation had been carried out as part of the force’s integral plan to prevent weapons ending up in the hands of criminals and terrorists.
Officers seized 49 pistols and revolvers; five sub-machine guns; two machine guns; four rifles; ammunition; 2.5 kilos of gunpowder; two mortar grenades; and products to manufacture ammunition and guns.
They also seized a ‘latest generation’ scanner for printing money, along with ‘numerous forged notes’.