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Law enforcement taken possession of more than 1,000 guns and gun parts during a operation aimed at the spread of illicit weapons in the country and New Zealand.

Cross-Border Initiative Results in Arrests and Recoveries

This extended transnational operation culminated in over 180 detentions, according to customs agents, and the confiscation of 281 homemade weapons and parts, among them units made by 3D printers.

Local Discoveries and Arrests

In New South Wales, police located numerous 3D printers together with glock-style pistols, ammunition clips and fabricated carrying cases, among other items.

Local authorities reported they detained 45 people and took possession of 518 firearms and weapon pieces in the course of the operation. Multiple suspects were charged with crimes such as the production of banned weapons unlicensed, shipping prohibited goods and possessing a computer file for manufacture of weapons – a violation in some states.

“These additively manufactured parts may look colourful, but they are serious items. After construction, they become dangerous tools – entirely illicit and very risky,” a senior police official stated in a statement. “For this purpose we’re focusing on the entire network, from manufacturing devices to foreign pieces.

“Citizen protection forms the basis of our weapon control program. Shooters are required to be authorized, firearms are obliged to be documented, and conformity is absolute.”

Rising Trend of Privately Made Guns

Information obtained during an investigation indicates that during the previous five years over 9,000 firearms have been lost to theft, and that currently, authorities executed recoveries of DIY firearms in nearly all state and territory.

Court records show that the computer blueprints currently produced within the country, powered by an digital network of creators and advocates that support an “unlimited right to keep and bear arms”, are increasingly reliable and lethal.

During the last three to four years the development has been from “highly unskilled, very low-powered, nearly disposable” to more advanced firearms, police reported earlier.

Border Seizures and Online Sales

Parts that cannot be reliably 3D-printed are commonly ordered from online retailers abroad.

An experienced immigration officer stated that more than 8,000 unlawful guns, parts and attachments had been found at the customs checkpoint in the last financial year.

“Foreign-sourced gun components are often put together with further DIY components, creating risky and unregistered guns making their way to our communities,” the official added.

“A lot of these products are available for purchase by e-commerce sites, which could result in users to wrongly believe they are permitted on import. Many of these platforms simply place orders from international acting as an intermediary with no regard for customs laws.”

Additional Seizures Throughout Several Territories

Seizures of items among them a projectile launcher and fire projector were additionally conducted in Victoria, the WA region, the southern isle and the Northern Territory, where law enforcement reported they located multiple privately manufactured firearms, as well as a 3D printer in the isolated community of Nhulunbuy.