From the extremist to the collector through the survivalist, the customs officers have established five typical profiles among the owners of illegal arsenals.
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It is a protean arsenal, an inventory sometimes disconcerting. The customs seizures of firearms carried out in 2021 mark an increase of 72% compared to the previous year. Increasing models by postal parcels as a result of online orders, usually from hosted sites on the net Dark.
“According to recent findings, many weapons arrive in spare parts, in several shipments of express freight or postal freight, from varied provenances, sometimes with intermediaries,” says a specialized investigator. Once at destination, this puzzle is reconstituted in workshops, at home of individuals or in the armory back shops, in order to reconstruct the lethal weapon. Thus, in recent months, the customs seizures were able to both wear on crosses, cannons, or even simple springs necessary for the final assembly. A total of 804 weapons were intercepted in 2021, against 508 in 2020.
Routing by postal parcels
In addition to the “neutralized” weapons requiring a handling job to become active again, a new trend is observed: the transformation of non-lethal weapons into open access, such as alarm or airsoft pistols (at balls), in arms that can give death. Sixty-two equipment of this type (called “off category”) were seized in 2021 against only two in 2019. Some plastic pistols, made or supplemented from 3D printers, were also identified by customs services.
less awaited within an arsenal, the fireworks, purchased in large quantities (sometimes nearly 100 kg per order, according to some findings in 2021), can turn into arms by destination. They were regularly used during confrontations against the police. Between June and October 2021, the customs seized 6,383 pyrotechnic articles, some among the most powerful on the market. Most of these pieces were routed by postal parcels, from Eastern European countries, especially Poland.
The origin of the seized weapons is globalized. Belgium and Switzerland, which organize renowned weapons scholarships, remain a traditional purchase channel; as well as the Balkan sector, recycling the material used during the wars of the 1990s; and the United States, the world’s first producer and market. Turkey (especially for non-lethal weapons), the Eastern European countries (Belarus, Bulgaria, Romania, North Macedonia, …), as well as some more recent areas of conflict, such as the Sahelo Strip -Saraus.
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