Nine people have been arrested and 109 firearms seized during Operation ‘Bulldog’, an investigation into the illegal manufacture and sale of weapons.
The weapons were produced in a basement workshop in Laguna de Duero, Valladolid, operated by a father and son. The father, described as a ‘master craftsman’ and with no criminal record, turned unusable weapons into items which could readily be fired. The son then sold these via the internet.
The trade in ‘decomisioned’ arms for collection purposes is not illegal, but as these were being expertly manipulated to make them fully functional and then being sold via the internet it became a criminal act.
Revolvers, pistols, a sawn-off shotgun, submachine guns and seven muzzleloaders were amongst the items seized by police in the raid.
The arrests took place in Valladolid, Valencia, Orense, Granada, Vizcaya and Málaga.