Huge (no kidding) weapons seizure by Spanish police

March 14, 2017, 02:31 PM

Sig2340

Are the rifles with green forearms in the last row before the wooden stocked rifles SIG 551s? If so, by my count there are over 150 in the picture and knowing their likely fate makes me sad.

There are a bunch of Ma Deuces in the lower right of the picture. and a bunch of FALs in the center.

quote:
bbc.com: Pictured: Huge weapons haul seized by Spanish police

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.

Cash amounting to 80,000 euros (£70,000 / $85,000) was seized.

Police say the guns could easily have made their way onto the black market

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.

Another picture.

That is easily $40M in collectible guns (on the US market) that will become rebar.

March 14, 2017, 02:51 PM

Interesting how they stack them up. I want that one second from the bottom.

March 14, 2017, 02:53 PM

Woodman

I like those square stacks also. I'd probably stockpile my yearly cache of Sam Adams cases inside one of the square firearms stacks. Hide it, you know.

March 14, 2017, 02:57 PM

jcat

Now THAT, is an 'arsenal' or a 'cache'.

MSM should take note.

March 14, 2017, 03:01 PM

billnchristy

When 2 overhead photos cannot cover your stockpile, you truly do have an arsenal.

March 14, 2017, 03:05 PM

Jus228

Very sad.

March 14, 2017, 03:06 PM

dusty3030

Looks like a bunch of Beretta AR 70's too.

March 14, 2017, 03:14 PM

jhe888

That is an actual arsenal. Impressive.

March 14, 2017, 03:19 PM

stoic-one

quote:
Originally posted by jhe888:
That is an actual arsenal. Impressive.

The press calls EVERYTHING an arsenal, they were bound to get it right sooner or later.

March 14, 2017, 03:21 PM

AZSigs

I'm going to probably lose my PayPal deposit now.

March 14, 2017, 03:39 PM

Lord Vaalic

Hey... that's my basement

March 14, 2017, 03:41 PM

konata88

All them guns and not one box of ammo?

March 14, 2017, 03:43 PM

David W

quote:
Originally posted by konata88:
All them guns and not one box of ammo?

The ammo storage building is beside that one.

March 14, 2017, 03:44 PM

RogueJSK

Wow. Interesting mish-mash.

The machine gun on the elevated mount towards the center of the second photo is a WW2-era Czech ZB-53 in 7.92x57mm (aka 8mm Mauser).

The ZB-53 was actually used by both sides during World War 2.

The Germans used captured Czech ZB-53s, known as the MG-37(t), which were fielded mostly by the Waffen-SS. (The SS were constantly competing against the German military proper to obtain sufficient quantities of standard issue German rifles and machine guns for their troops, and commonly had to resort to substitute standard armaments like this.)

It was also one of the standard machine guns for German's ally Romania:

The British produced a licensed copy of the ZB-53, known as the Besa, which was primarily mounted on armored vehicles. It was the standard machine gun on WW2 British-made tanks. Interestingly, the British Besas remained chambered in the original 8mm Mauser, which ended up allowing British tanks to utilize captured German rifle/MG ammunition, and the Germans to use captured British tank MG ammo.

The Chinese purchased several hundred ZB-53s from Czechoslovakia before the war, which ended up being put to use against the Japanese.

The seized ZB-53 in the article's photo is mounted on an anti-aircraft tripod:

March 14, 2017, 04:04 PM

vinnybass

Brings a tear to my eye.

March 14, 2017, 04:06 PM

Il Cattivo

quote:
Originally posted by Sig2340:
Are the rifles with green forearms in the last row before the wooden stocked rifles SIG 551s?

Nope - CETME LCs. Think HKG33-type 5.56 rifles with collapsible stocks and cruuuude rear sights.

Which almost certainly didn't come through the 'legal channels' the article was talking about - those things were Spanish military issue until Spain switched over to a variant of the G36. Apparently Spain is also one of those countries where civilians can have .222 Remingtons, but not 5.56x45s.