More than 10,000 assault rifles, 400 howitzers, shells, grenades, and anti-aerial machine guns — likely intended for sale to terrorists and criminals — have been seized in a joint raid by Spanish police and Europol.

Video footage released by Europol on Tuesday shows the massive cache of weapons, which the Spanish National Police seized in Bilbao, Cantabria and Gerona in January as part of operation Portu, which was supported by Europol. The haul was so great it took weeks to catalogue.

The European policing agency said in a statement that there was a “significant risk” of the weapons “being acquired by organised crime groups and terrorists.”

The investigation stemmed from the weapons used in the terrorist attack on a Jewish museum in Brussels in 2014.

“Due to their characteristics, their calibre and their readiness for reactivation, the seized weapons had an easy journey in the black market and posed a significant risk of being acquired by organised crime groups and terrorists,” Europol said.

The stash contained deactivated firearms which were largely purchased legally, and were later reactivated. Firearms found at the scene were ready to be repaired and transformed back into working weapons.

Five people have been arrested and €80,000 ($85,000) seized along with the weapons, Spanish police reported.

The crime group was using a sports shop as a front for its illegal firearms distribution center. A workshop used to reactivate the firearms was also discovered, as well as equipment to create forged certificates of reactivation.

Tags: Europol; Spain; terrorism; weapons</s>Police and federal authorities in Girona, Spain, as well as in various other locations in the country, rounded up the weapons throughout January. In the armaments haul are anti-aircraft machine guns, shells, grenades and assault rifles.

Officials announced the haul only recently, as the process of taking inventory required additional time to count the weapons.

The Spanish National Police, in cooperation with Europol, arrested five people in connection with the illegal cache, and claim that the weapons were bought legally, primarily from military groups auctioning off aging armaments. They were intended to be sold by a firearms-trafficking ring to criminal elements.

Many of the weapons are of Spanish manufacture, according to reports, including legally purchased deactivated guns that can be made functional with easily available aftermarket parts.

Authorities also seized some 80,000 euros in cash (about $85,000) as well as parts, tools and machines for the maintenance and modification of the military hardware.</s>Spanish police today released images of over 10,000 seized weapons, including anti-aircraft guns, they said were destined to be sold to organised crime groups and terrorist organisations. Police announced in January they had made a major weapons haul but only now released pictures and a final tally of the results of their operation against firearms trafficking. They said they had launched their investigation following a shooting at the Jewish Museum in Brussels in May 2014 that killed four people.

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The seized weapons included about 9,000 CETME rifles, 1,000 brand-name rifles, 400 howitzers, anti-aircraft guns, grenades, pistols and revolvers.

The police pictures showed stacks of assault rifles and other guns side by side at a warehouse.

“The dismantled group, made up of five people who were arrested, legally bought out-of-commission weapons which they then reactivated and sold to organised crime groups and terrorist organisations,” police said in a statement.

Police also found an illegal workshop near the northern city of Bilbao with tools to manipulate and reactivate weapons as part of their operation carried out with the help of Europol.

The firearms were sold mainly in Spain, France and Belgium, Europol said in a separate statement.

“The seized weapons had an easy journey in the black market and posed a significant risk of being acquired by organised crime groups and terrorists,” it said.

French national Mehdi Nemmouche was arrested in Marseille in southern France on May 30, 2014, on suspicion of having carried out the attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels.

Prosecutors said he was carrying a Kalashnikov, another gun and ammunition similar to that used in the shooting.

The attack prompted police forces across Europe to step up their investigations into illegal weapons sales.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App now</s>Spanish Police have released remarkable images of a huge arsenal of illegal weapons seized from a criminal gang last January.

 The haul includes over 10,000 assault rifles, machine guns, pistols, revolvers, and 400 mortar shells and grenades.

 Among the weapons seized were 9,000 Spanish-built CETME assault rifles.

 

 Spanish police said the deactivated weapons had been purchased legally by the gang but were being restored and sold on the black market in Europe.

 Spanish investigators supported by Europol also found an illegal workshop with machinery to manipulate and reactivate weapons.

 Five people were arrested following raids in several locations in the north of Spain including in Bizkaia, Gerona and Cantabria.

 The arsenal was located following an investigation into the weapons used by a terrorist in a shooting at the Jewish museum in Brussels in 2014, in which four people died.</s>BBC – Spanish Police have released striking pictures of a huge weapons haul seized from an organised crime group.

 It includes over 10,000 assault rifles, machine guns, pistols, revolvers, and 400 shells and grenades.

The guns and ammunition were seized in January during an operation against firearms trafficking.

Investigators also found an illegal workshop with machinery to manipulate and reactivate weapons, near Bilbao. Five people were arrested.

The operation involved counter-terror police from Madrid, Bilbao, Valencia and Gerona.

Europol, which supported the investigation, said the firearms were sold in Spain, France and Belgium.

It said some of the weapons were deactivated, but did not comply with established standards.

Criminals acquired the arsenal largely through auctions and other legal channels before reactivating it.



 The gang had been using a sports shop as a front for its distribution centre – which in reality sold firearms, weapon components and ammunition.

Police said the weapons would have had an easy journey onto the black market, and into the hands of terrorists or organised crime groups.

Europol said firearms traffickers exploit legal loopholes and legislative differences between EU countries to divert guns from legal suppliers.

Reactivating deactivated weapons is one of Europe’s main sources of illegal guns.

The agency said it had seen a significant increase in the number being supplied to criminals since 2014.</s>More than 10,000 assault rifles, 400 howitzer shells, grenades, and anti-aerial machine guns — likely intended for sale to terrorists and criminals — have been seized in a joint raid by Spanish police and Europol.

Video footage released by Europol on Tuesday shows the massive cache of weapons, which the Spanish National Police seized in Bilbao, Cantabria and Gerona in January as part of operation Portu, which was supported by Europol. The haul was so great it took weeks to catalogue.

The European policing agency said in a statement that there was a “significant risk” of the weapons “being acquired by organised crime groups and terrorists.”

The investigation stemmed from the weapons used in the terrorist attack on a Jewish museum in Brussels in 2014. The investigation stemmed from the weapons used in the terrorist attack on a Jewish museum in Brussels in 2014. READ MORE: At least 3 dead in shooting near Jewish Museum in Brussels “Due to their characteristics, their calibre and their readiness for reactivation, the seized weapons had an easy journey in the black market and posed a significant risk of being acquired by organised crime groups and terrorists,” Europol said. The stash contained deactivated firearms which were largely purchased legally, and were later reactivated. Firearms found at the scene were ready to be repaired and transformed back into working weapons. Huge firearms depot seized during operation Portu with Spanish @policia now revealed https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/huge-firearms-depot-seized-during-operation-portu-now-revealed …#firearms #EU #arms Five people have been arrested and €80,000 ($85,000) seized along with the weapons, Spanish police reported. The crime group was using a sports shop as a front for its illegal firearms distribution centre. A workshop used to reactivate the firearms was also discovered, as well as equipment to create forged certificates of reactivation.</s>Spanish police have released incredible images of an enormous weapons haul seized from an organised criminal gang.

The collection includes more than 10,000 assault rifles, machine guns, revolvers, pistols and 400 grenades and mortars.

Authorities said some of the weapons were even 'capable of shooting down aircraft.'

Four men and one woman were arrested after raids in Cantabria, Girona, and Vizcaya in January.

The criminals had been operating under the front of a historical weapons workshop near Bilbao that bought supposedly defunct firearms online.

The weapons were restored and sold on the black market throughout Europe, according to police.

The haul is believed to have an estimated black market value of around €10 million (£8.75 million).

Cash amounting to €80,000 (£70,000) was also seized.

Europol, which supported the operation, revealed the firearms were sold in Spain, France and Belgium.

It was previously reported that terrorists are finding it easier than ever to get guns because of the flow of illegal weapons flowing from the Balkans into the heart of western Europe.

A spokesman for the Spanish Government said at the time: 'This modus operandi used to purchase weapons is the same as the one used for the attacks carried out in Paris on January 7th, 2015, against employees of the satirical weekly "Charlie Hebdo", in which 12 people were killed and another 11 injured, all with recommissioned weapons acquired at the time from a Slovak gunsmith.'

The Spanish Government says police are continuing to crackdown on the illegal sale of weapons to organised crime gangs and terrorists.</s>LONDON — When a gunman killed four people at a Jewish museum in Brussels in 2014, police in Spain launched an effort to reduce the number of illegal firearms circulating in Europe.

What they found was a arsenal large enough to supply an army — and all ready to be sold to terrorist groups and gangs.

Spanish police announced Tuesday they had recovered around 10,000 assault rifles, pistols, machine guns, and revolvers, as well as 400 shells and grenades, in raids in the north of the country.

They also arrested five suspects and recovered around $90,000.

The raids, in Girona, Biscay and Cantabria, targeted a gang trafficking firearms on the black market that were destined to be sold to terror groups and gangs in Spain, France and Belgium.

Spain's national police, who worked with cross-border authority Europol on the operation, said the gang "exploited legal loopholes and legislative differences between E.U. countries to divert guns from legal suppliers." They used a workshop to re-brand and reactivate the weapons, which were "being made ready for sale to terrorist groups and organized crime," police said.</s>SPANISH cops have seized an astonishing arms haul of over 10,000 firearms and grenades.

The jaw-dropping cache of machine guns, assault rifles and rifles was uncovered by police from Madrid, Girona, Valencia and Bilbao in a joint operation.

The weapons belonged to an organised criminal gang, who used an illegal workshop near Bilbao to store and reactivate the weapons.

Five people have been arrested following the operation, which also uncovered €80,000.

Criminals are believed to have purchased the weapons through auctions before reactivating them.

Police say they were being sold throughout Spain, France and Belgium and could easily have ended up in the hands of terrorists.

The gang had used a sports shop as a front to sell the weapons.

Reactivating deactivated weapons is one of the most popular ways for European criminals to access illegal weapons.
Europol reports a total of more than 10,000 assault rifles and 400 shelling weapons were seized in northern Spain during an anti-trafficking operation in January.