A police operation in Australia has cracked down on 3D printed weapons.
This sort of police action takes place regularly in many cities. In fact, I’ve obtained calls myself from attorneys seeking expert advice for their clients. However, this operation is quite different.
It seems that the Australian Border Force performed a massive operation that arrested 184 suspects across the country. They sized more than 1000 firearms and parts, 281 of which were 3D printed. In all, there were 719 fully assembled firearms, with 489 parts. In addition, the police also seized imitation weapons, drugs and cash.
Of note to readers is that the police also arrested folks who were “simply interested in exploring the technology,” as opposed to hardened criminals with evil intent.
The Australia’s Illicit Firearms Working Group, Detective Superintendent Watson, explained:
“There are others that are more intent on defeating the process, so they are organised-crime related … they have a profit motive. There are others that may be sovereign citizens or doomsday preppers, there is no question, so this operation and the learnings from it is going to build and complete the whole landscape.”
How were so many people caught by this operation? It seems there was a fundamental mistake that many of the perps fell into.
They ordered parts from local Australian online retailers, and probably thought the parts were already in country, perhaps locally produced. In fact, the retailers simply placed orders to overseas providers — on the buyer’s behalf. This meant that there were records of importing the parts, unbeknownst to the buyers.
Via News Beep
