Police arrest two linked to alleged ghost gun operation

Search warrants lead to seizure of converted automatic weapon

SAN JOSE >> Two men have been arrested on allegations they were using storage units to illegally build untraceable guns and in one instance had a rifle that had been modified to function as a machine gun, according to San Jose police.

In a news release, the department announced that the arrests were made last month and involved so-called ghost guns, firearms made at least partly with prefabricated parts that typically lack serial numbers and are therefore difficult if not impossible to track.

The arrests were the product of a joint investigation between San Jose police and the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, whose crime strategies unit helps coordinate high-profile gun cases.

The two suspects, both San Jose residents, became the subject of a monthslong investigation after “gun offenders” arrested by police were being found with illegal handguns. The probe led investigators to associate the two with storage units police said were “used by the suspects to build unregistered ‘ghost guns’ and ammunition.”

On Feb. 19, police served search warrants at multiple locations in the South Bay connected to the guns and seized seven handguns and an AR-15 rifle, which appears to have been converted to have fully automatic firing capability.

Investigators also recovered gun-manufacturing tools and assorted gun parts, police said.

One of the men arrested, 34-year-old Daniel Woods, also was booked in a separate gun-trafficking case in which he is accused of transporting guns from Arizona to California.

Acting Chief David Tindall lauded “unrelenting” work by his officers and DA investigators and prosecutors to get this gun source off the street.

“We cannot and will not allow these guns to inflict violence on our residents,” he said in a statement.