Police arrest man suspected of selling guns online as ‘migrant deterrents’

A FAR-RIGHT German activist suspected of selling guns on the internet, marketing them as “migrant deterrents”, has been arrested in Hungary.

Mario Rönsch was held on a European extradition warrant issued in his native Germany yesterday. He has been on the run from German authorities since 2016. He is accused of running a website called Migrant Deterrent, which sold more than €100,000 (£87,000) worth of unlicensed weapons to customers in Europe under the slogan: “Simple, fast and discreet: that’s the mantra of Migrant Deterrent.”

Although most of the weapons were legal in Germany, they were sold without licences. Customers were also sold banned ammunition, it was alleged, possession of which is punishable by up to five years in prison.

The website portrayed migrants as potential rapists and marketed the weapons as a “defence against fickificki specialists”, a racially pejorative term used to imply that migrant men harass women for sex. The guns were also advertised as “opinion enhancers against rogue leftists”.

Mr Rönsch was also accused of running a Facebook page and website on which he published fake news targeting migrants and Muslims. The 33-yearold was arrested at dawn in Budapest, where he is thought to have fled after prosecutors began investigating him.

Customers from a dozen European countries are believed to have bought illegal weapons and ammunition including rifles and rubber bullets.

Mr Rönsch will be held in Hungary pending hearings over a possible extradition to Germany.