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Continuing our regular look into criminally made and modified firearms within our Underground Arms Watch series, we start with a seizure of a number of homemade firearms by Queensland Police on October 2:
Officers from Logan District Drug and Firearm team have charged a man with multiple firearm and drug offences following the execution of a search warrant in Logan Village on Friday afternoon.
At 1.30pm (October 2) police attended a Waterford Tamborine Road address and executed a search warrant.
Police will allege that during searches eight homemade firearms, homemade knuckle dusters, an electric conductive device and a large quantity of ammunition were located. Dangerous drugs including, methylamphetamine and steroids were also located at the address.
A 36-year-old Logan Village man has been charged with two counts of possessing dangerous drugs, unlawful possession of weapons (electric conductive device) (handgun) (knuckle duster) and one count each of unlawful dealing with explosive or noxious substances – made or has possession, possess utensil for use, possess tainted property and authority required to possess explosives (ammunition).
Photo: Queensland Police
As previously reported, New South Wales Police seized a Glock 19 assembled using a 3D printed frame and magazine late last month.
A man in Canada was also arrested and charged last month with offenses related to a seizure of printed firearms parts at a home in Alberta.
A 53-year-old Alberta man has been charged for allegedly using a 3D printer to manufacture firearm parts.
The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team said in a media release Thursday morning that it’s believed this is the first time charges have been laid in Alberta in relation to the 3D printing of firearms.
ALERT began its investigation in April 2019, and also involved the assistance of the Lethbridge Police Service and Picture Butte RCMP. The RCMP’s National Weapons Enforcement Support Team was also involved in the investigation.
The investigation led officers to search a home where multiple 3D printers were found. An assortment of manufactured firearm parts were also found in the home and include pistol lower frames, an assault rifle receiver and frame, a bump stock for converting a semi-automatic firearm to fully automatic and silencers.
Seized items were sent to the RCMP Forensic Science and Identification Services lab for examination and ballistics testing. ALERT said preliminary results confirmed the 3D-printed parts were functional. Globalnews.ca
United Kingdom: The two firearms below were seized by Merseyside Police following an incident in the town of Bootle. Both are typical examples of firearms which are usually seen adapted by criminal armorers. A full auto switch can be seen fitted to the Glock below which also has a threaded barrel to fit an unknown suppressor which may be a DIY model.
The other appears to be an 11mm French military revolver. The ammunition is likely reloaded using modified modern cases and bullets. There have been several recent high profile convictions for the supply of antique revolvers in recent years.
Below is a homemade submachine gun seized from an Albanian criminal which was used in a shootout in which a footballer was killed in the crossfire. It looks to be a crude copy of the Zagi M91, a modernized STEN-based submachine gun manufactured during the 1991 Croatian War of Independence which appears frequently in criminal circles in the Balkans.
On the Brazilian front, it appears that at least one location manufacturing a .380 submachine gun design which has widely been seized this year was uncovered by authorities at the end of August in Sierra, a locality in which the majority have appeared to have been seized. Material for the construction of a further 30 SMGs was found.
Photo: Policia Militar
An example of the same design of SMG used during an attempted murder last month:
A crude .380 submachine gun seized back in August in Joao Neiva in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo.
Photo: Policia Militar
A small pistol or machine-pistol which appears to be unusually high quality. It was seized from a 17 year old back in July.
Photo: Policia Militar
From Cambodia – Poacher’s increasingly using gas powered marble guns
“Wildlife Alliance rangers have uncovered a new type of innovative homemade gun that poachers are using to decimate wildlife in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains. Only a few guns of the new design have been confiscated by rangers, all of them in recent months, suggesting that poachers are starting to change their tactics. The new design is made entirely from Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) plastic and uses marbles as ammunition; a small gas canister fills up a plastic chamber that fires a marble at a sufficient speed to kill the animal.
These aren’t the first homemade guns confiscated by rangers. Since the establishment of the Cardamom Forest Protection Program in 2002, more than 900 guns have been confiscated from the hands of poachers. However, these new guns differ from their more-traditional counterparts — the design is far more simple — that are made from wood and rely on gunpowder to fire loose ball bearings. ” www.wildlifealliance.org
Photo: wildlifealliance.org
Photo: wildlifealliance.org
