Eight tons of weapons, mostly from World War II, were seized in Annecy, we learned Tuesday, December 15 from the judicial police, confirming information from Dauphiné Libéré.
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A ton of hunting ammunition and 300 kg of munitions of weapons of war were also discovered, Friday, during a search which followed the arrest, on December 4, of a man of about 20 years suspected of arms trafficking.
Known to the police for acts of violence and kidnapping, the young man had been selling functional weapons of different calibers for several weeks, the PJ said.
During his arrest with the assistance of the RAID, the investigators also got hold of nine other weapons: three submachine guns, three automatic pistols and three revolvers.
The suspect was staying with a couple who "
knew of the traffic but did not take part in it
", said Commissioner Guillaume Fauconnier.
Placed in custody, the man first "
minimized
" the facts before leading investigators to an industrial area in a district in the south of the city, housing a huge stockpile of weapons.
These were stored dismantled in garages adjoining a squatted house, owned by a former gunsmith passionate about World War II and currently hospitalized.
"
This represents thousands of weapons
", specified the commissioner who requested the assistance of the ballistics section of the National Institute of Scientific Police (INPS), the deminers of Lyon and the soldiers of the 27th BCA of Annecy in because of the dangerousness of the intervention.
The suspect was "
able to put them back into operation and offer them for sale
", according to the same source.
Prosecuted for "
arms trafficking
" and imprisoned at the end of his police custody, the young man will be tried on December 28.
