(Montreal) The Integrated Arms Trafficking Team announced on Wednesday that 45 people had been arrested and 440 firearms seized during multiple searches carried out simultaneously in eight provinces, targeting manufacturers of 3D printed weapons – these “ghost weapons” that are increasingly appearing at crime scenes in Canada.
The mixed squad told reporters in Montreal that more than 20 police forces had been involved in the cross-Canada searches carried out on Tuesday as part of the operation dubbed “Reproduction”.
This vast simultaneous operation was coordinated by the Integrated Team to Combat Arms Trafficking, created in 2021 in Quebec and made up of members of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Canada Border Services Agency. Tuesday’s operation involved around 20 other police forces, including the Ontario Provincial Police.
Police conducted a total of 64 searches across eight provinces and seized 440 firearms, including 3D-printed handguns, long guns and silencers, as well as other weapons and 3D printers – and even a pistol gunner.
The 64 searches were conducted in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan; they led to 45 arrests.
In Quebec, 19 searches took place in Montreal, Berthierville, New Carlisle, Pont-Rouge, Repentigny, Saint-Jean-de-Matha, Sainte-Angèle-de-Monnoir, Gatineau, Saint-Calixte, Quebec and Saint-Alexandre- d’Iberville, indicates the SQ.
Asked Wednesday about the people arrested as part of these searches, the director of criminal investigations at the SQ, Benoit Dubé, clarified that “at the level of manufacturers, across Canada, it started from 16 years old to 77 years old. “. The profile of suspects is not uniform, he said. “They came from a variety of backgrounds, some had ties to organized crime […] Many had criminal records. »
Weapons that cannot be traced
Authorities say they are increasingly concerned about these “ghost weapons”, homemade weapons assembled at home or 3D printed, without serial numbers – therefore impossible to trace. “Depending on the entries made [par l’escouade depuis janvier]25% of seizures are 3D printed handguns,” Chief Inspector Dubé said on Wednesday.
” We know that [ces armes fantômes] are created for a specific purpose – you can imagine they are not intended for, say, sport shooters, added Ontario Provincial Police Chief Superintendent Paul McKay on Wednesday. There is criminal intent and they are manufactured for a specific purpose: to be put into the hands of criminal organizations. »
“The phenomenon is interprovincial and does not stop at borders; neither does our collaboration and our desire to ensure the safety of our populations, adds Chief Inspector Dubé. The Sûreté du Québec, with its partners, in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada, will continue to monitor and act against armed violence. »
The sweeping operation follows a Canada Border Services Agency investigation triggered in April 2021 after intelligence officers tracked the import of a set of weapon rails – brackets used to mount accessories on firearms. These rails would have been manufactured for 3D printed weapons from an exporter established in the United States already identified by the CBSA, explained Wednesday Adriano Giannini, of this federal agency.
In September 2021, the importer was identified as a Montreal-area resident who authorities said had a criminal record and was the subject of a weapons prohibition order. The SQ intervened in November 2022, their main target being a Montrealer who was sending parts of firearms that had been purchased in Asia throughout Canada.
“And when we saw that our main suspect was sending these parts all over Canada, we got in touch with […] our police community,” Mr. Dubé explained on Wednesday.
Those arrested on Tuesday could face charges of producing, possessing and distributing firearms.