Seven firearms, almost one thousand rounds of ammunition and several weapon elements were seized by officers of the Central Investigation Bureau of Police (CBŚP) from Rzeszów. This is not the first strike against an international criminal group of an armed character, which deals with smuggling weapons to Sweden. Currently, there are four suspects in the case.
As the Polish Press Agency was informed on Wednesday by D.A. Rafał Teluk, the head of the Podkarpacie Department for Organised Crime and Corruption of the National Prosecutor’s Office in Rzeszów, who supervises the investigation, weapons and ammunition were found as a result of a search in one of the garages in Jaworzno (Silesia Province). The search followed information obtained by the CBŚP concerning the place where one of the suspects might store firearms.
Police officers secured seven firearms and a total of 942 pieces of ammunition there. As listed by Teluk, these were: submachine guns, including one considered particularly dangerous Skorpion with a silencer and a Mossberg repeater rifle.
CBŚP spokeswoman Sub-Inspector Iwona Jurkiewicz conveyed that all the secured weapon units would undergo specialist ballistics tests.
“From the officers’ information, it follows that the weapons were prepared for smuggling to Sweden,” Jurkiewicz added.
This was already the second strike against an international armed criminal group whose members were involved in smuggling weapons into Sweden.
District Attorney Teluk reported that four people had been suspected in the case so far. They are Polish citizens: Markus F., Tomasz F., Maciej W. and Leszek S. They have been charged with, among other things, participation in an organised criminal group of an armed nature, possession of firearms without the required authorisation and drug trafficking in the EU. They are all in custody.
The acts they are accused of are punishable by up to 12 years’ imprisonment.
In addition, three more people have been arrested in Sweden: A Swedish woman and two Polish citizens living in that country. Due to the international nature of the case, the prosecution has worked in close cooperation with the law enforcement authorities in Sweden, with the support of the prosecutor from Eurojust and the liaison officer for the Scandinavian countries.
“During the operation, smuggling of weapons and drugs was prevented, a total of 10 Glock firearms, three machine-gun units with a silencer, ammunition, two kg of 3CMC, amphetamine, cannabis, MDMA and a radio station that could be used to listen to police frequencies were secured,” Sub-Insp. Jurkiewicz informed.
The case began in October 2021 when Swedish services found 10 Glocks with ammunition and magazines hidden in packets of washing powder in the port of Ystad. They were contained in two shipments to Sweden that Markus F. had sent to a transport service provider in Stalowa Wola.
“The destination addresses, where the packages were to be delivered, were in Stockholm and Gothenburg. The label stuck to the parcels stated the name and surname of a citizen of the Republic of Poland and the exact address together with the mobile phone number of the Swedish numbering zone,” Teluk has relayed.
Swedish services have detained the drivers and secured the van in which the parcels were transported.
In the course of further activities, it was established that a smuggling channel for firearms and drugs, organised by Polish citizens acting in an international criminal group, runs from Poland to Sweden.
“The smuggling was conducted under the guise of import and export of legal goods, e.g., car parts,” Teluk explained.
Markus F. sent another consignment to Sweden in November. Its inspection carried out in the port of Świnoujście by CBŚP officers and customs officers showed that it contained almost two kilograms of a psychotropic substance which is banned in Poland. Its black-market value is approximately PLN 80 000.
During an attempt at another smuggling operation, police officers seized three submachine guns, including a Scorpion with a silencer, 140 pieces of ammunition and magazines.
“The illegal goods were supposed to cross the Baltic Sea to Sweden. It was hidden in a car engine specially prepared for smuggling with the internal structural elements removed,” the D.A. informed.
The prosecutor secured the car and PLN 17 000 in cash on account of future penalties.
The spokeswoman of the CBŚP emphasized, that the case is developing and further detentions are not excluded.
