A massive police operation carried out across Canada, including Quebec, on Tuesday has dealt a serious blow to a network of dealers selling 3D-printed firearms.
“Today’s operations, which will include searches and possible arrests, will help neutralize many of the sources of illegal firearms in Canada, helping to combat gun violence in the country.” In a press release, the Integrated Counter-Arms Trafficking Team (EILTA ), conducted by the Sûreté du Québec.
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Numerous searches took place in various cities in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Only the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island were spared from this major attack.
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One such search was conducted at a 20-story apartment building at the foot of Mount Royal in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Montreal.
MAXIME DELAND/QMI AGENCY
In the early afternoon, investigators exited a ninth-floor house, taking with them a 3D printer, a computer tower and a large black bag full of evidence.
While the phenomenon of 3D printed firearms has been marginal in Quebec over the past decade, the number of operations in this area has exploded in the past two years.
MAXIME DELAND/QMI AGENCY
These homemade weapons, also known as “ghost weapons”, are becoming increasingly popular with criminals because they do not have a serial number and are therefore untraceable.
Three weeks ago, police conducted a search of an apartment building in the Pierrefonds sector on western Montreal Island. Specifically, law enforcement arrested a local 16-year-old boy suspected of 3D printing and selling firearms.
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The small criminal cell to which the teenager belonged was allegedly caught by a double agent who bought them homemade guns.
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Last March, investigators arrested a 20-year-old Mont-Tremblant man and his underage spouse suspected of involvement in trafficking phantom guns made from a 3D printer.
In 2021, police arrived at the home of 34-year-old Gatineau resident Tobie-Laurin Lépine and discovered a variety of firearms 3D-printed from his kitchen. In particular, the authorities confiscated from his accommodation a submachine gun and an almost entirely hand-made grenade launcher.
This type of intervention by arms manufacturers has multiplied in recent years, not only in Quebec but also in several other Canadian provinces.
Representatives from the Sûreté du Québec, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Canada Border Services Agency will hold a press conference Wednesday morning to take stock of the extensive Pan-Canadian operation conducted during the day on Tuesday.