Alleged firearms trafficking bust leads to one arrest: Surrey RCMP

Surrey RCMP says a long-term investigation has led to a big bust of illegal guns, including two untraceable “ghost guns.”

Mounties say a collaborative investigation on firearm trafficking started earlier this year, where officials identified a suspect living in Surrey who could “pose a risk to public safety, either through their behaviour or links to organized crime,” a news release from the Surrey RCMP said.

Insp. Ryan Element with the Surrey RCMP speaks after police seized a large amount of weapons related to alleged firearms trafficking. (Photo courtesy Surrey RCMP/Twitter)

Police say the 42-year-old man doesn’t have any known ties to gangs but presented a risk because of his increasing amount of “easily accessible prohibited firearms and ammunition.”

According to police, the suspect allegedly sold firearms with “no discretion when it came to whom the firearms were sold to.”

“Firearms trafficking places illegal firearms in the hands of criminals, who use them to commit brazen acts of violence, which we have recently seen across the region,” Insp. Ryan Element explained.

Surrey RCMP says police seized a large amount of weapons related to alleged firearms trafficking, including two 3D printed ‘ghost guns’ (Photo courtesy Surrey RCMP/Twitter)

On Dec. 1, Mounties say officers searched a business in the Ketch Court area near United Blvd., where police found multiple weapons.

During the search, police seized 37 guns:

• Two 3D printed Glock ghost guns
• One pistol
• 26 Carbine/Assault style rifles
• Two shotguns
• Six hunting rifles

Inspector Ryan Element speaks about a firearms trafficking investigation that led to a large seizure of prohibited weapons, including 3D printed “ghost guns”. https://t.co/AGCNzOvhn9 pic.twitter.com/K5Myyuve7F

— Surrey RCMP (@SurreyRCMP) December 21, 2022

Police also seized:

• • 3D printed AR15 lower receiver accompanied by a manufactured .22 caliber upper receiver
  • Suppressor for a rifle
  • Four airsoft guns
  • 22 calibre upper conversion kit with ammunition
  • Body armour
  • Over 100,000 rounds of ammunition of various calibres
  • Several hundred magazines (many of which were loaded and prohibited)

“Although these firearms were seized in Coquitlam, they had the potential to be sold and used to carry out acts of violence in any one of our communities. Seizures of this nature directly impact all of our safety,” Element added.

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Mounties say the investigation is ongoing, and although the suspect was arrested he was later released. Before submitting charge(s), police add that there are still “many crucial steps” before the charge(s) can be sent to the BC Prosecution Service for approval.