Producers of “ghost” firearms suffered a setback on Tuesday after a major police operation. Simultaneous searches in eight provinces seized hundreds of these homemade rifles, dozens of 3D printers, and led to 45 arrests.
“Thousands of firearms cannot be manufactured,” said Benoit Dubé, director of criminal affairs at the Sûreté du Québec, the police force that coordinated this operation. “This intervention neutralized 57 firearms supply sources. »
“Ghost” firearms, handcrafted using 3D printers, have been worrying the authorities for several years. This “first pan-Canadian operation aimed at the production of firearms” made it possible to remove 440 of them from circulation, as well as 52 3D printers “some of which were in operation”.
A few surprises awaited the police at the time of these searches. Three long guns of the AR-15 type, a rifle and even a grenade made by a 3D printer were confiscated. “It’s out of the ordinary,” says Benoit Dubé. “Now everything exists. »
Typically, a quarter of guns seized by police in common crimes are “ghost” guns. The majority of these are handguns.
3D printers capable of making these weapons can cost less than $1,000.
From Asia to Canada via the United States
It all started with reports to the Border Services Agency.
Agents of the agency noticed in 2021 that steel “track systems” from the United States were crossing the border without problems. By tracing the origin of these critical parts for a plastic firearm, they were able to identify a supplier in Asia. Then, downstream of this distribution circuit, they discovered that an individual residing in Montreal was supplying a whole network of 3D weapon manufacturers with these rails.
This individual, whom the police did not identify, was released. He has “a serious criminal history,” said Adriano Giannini of information from the Canada Border Services Agency.
In all, 57 gun manufacturers were raided in eight provinces. Of this number, 45 people between the ages of 16 and 77 were arrested. They will face 58 counts related to the manufacture, possession and distribution of illegal firearms.
More than 300 police officers from across Canada took part in this operation called “Reproduction”.