A 35-year-old patched member of the Comancheros motorcycle gang has been charged with possession of a haul of 3D printed semiautomatic rifles. Photo / Supplied
A 35-year-old patched member of the Comancheros motorcycle gang has been charged with possession of a haul of 3D printed semiautomatic rifles. Photo / Supplied
An arsenal of 3D-printed semi-automatic rifles was found inside a stolen vehicle after police allegedly spotted a patched Comanchero gang member driving on the wrong side of the road.
Methamphetamine, illegal magazines and ammunition, another semiautomatic rifle, and a .38 Special revolver were also found in the Ford Ranger afterpolice gave chase in Manukau earlier this month.
The alarming discovery was made after a police patrol car saw the ute speeding on the wrong side of Lambie Drive around 10.40pm on August 3, and signalled with lights and sirens for the driver to stop.
But the stolen ute allegedly accelerated away and continued to “drive recklessly” so the patrol unit decided to not pursue.
Instead, the Eagle helicopter tracked the Ford Ranger from the air as it drove through Papatoetoe, including a road which had been closed for road works.
The ute was spotted outside a home in Margaret Rd, where police officers arrested the alleged driver nearby.
“Following a search of the vehicle, five prohibited centrefire firearms were discovered. Four of these firearms were 3D printed,” Senior Sergeant Anton Maisey confirmed in a statement to the Herald on Sunday.
“Around 100 grams of methamphetamine was seized from the vehicle. Police also located a pistol, as well as prohibited magazines and various quantities of ammunition.”
The 35-year-old, who is a patched member of the Comancheros motorcycle gang, is due to appear in Manukau District Court next week on a raft of firearms, drugs and driving charges.
Drugs and guns go hand-in-hand in the criminal underworld, although the discovery of such a large haul of 3D-printed firearms will be of interest to the police.
Prosecutions for manufacturing 3D-printed firearms are relatively rare in New Zealand, although in recent years, police officers have started to find the homemade guns more frequently.
The technology of 3D printing means the plans to manufacture firearms almost entirely out of plastic - save for a few metal components - are widely available online and make it easy to circumvent the laws restricting the sale and purchase of firearms.
In recent years, the police have had a renewed focus on the supply and distribution of firearms as the arrival of Australian gangs such as the Comancheros and Mongols have reignited tensions in the criminal world.
Four 3D-printed semiautomatic rifles were found in a stolen vehicle allegedly driven by a patched member of the Comancheros. Photo / NZ Police
A specialist group of detectives, the Firearms Investigations Team, was formed two years ago and it has success identifying “straw buyer” networks and 3D-printed gun manufacturers.
One of the targets, Wayne Te Awawa John Clarke, was recently sentenced to more than five years in prison.
The long-time gang member, better known as Wayniac, admitted attempting to manufacture FGC-9 semiautomatic pistols (which stands for F*** Gun Control), as well as drug dealing and threatening to kill.
While 3D-printed guns are relatively rare at the moment, police anticipate that homemade firearms will become more common in the near future.
This is because over time it will become harder for organised criminals to obtain firearms from licenced firearms owners - known as retail diversion or straw buying - now that the national firearms register is in place.
As well as 3D-printed firearms, other avenues could include gun-smuggling by sea, targeted burglaries of gun owners, or “smash-and-grab” ram raids on dealers.
There is also the likelihood of “guns for hire”, where licence holders retain physical possession of their firearms but rent them to criminals.
These are firearms purchased by gun licence holders, which were then banned after the Aramoana massacre and the Christchurch terror attack, but not handed over during the government buy-back period.
No one knows how many exist, but gun lobby groups estimated there could be hundreds of thousands, which could then easily enter the black market.
