Spanish Police Bust Illegal 3D Printed Weapons Workshop

In a joint effort between the National Police and officials of the Tax Agency, the first illegal 3D printed weapons manufacturing workshop in Spain has been dismantled. While the operation itself was carried out a few months ago on September 14, 2020, the police did not release a public statement until yesterday. They arrested a potential suspect in Santa Cruz, Tenerife after finding several weapons and explosives in his possession. They were able to find the workshop thanks to an internet monitoring team that noticed suspicious activity.

The police also found evidence that the workshop had links to supremacist groups, including two flags representing a triskele (a common far-right symbol) as well as a gun holster with the emblem of the German National Socialist Army. The police noted that the arrested man was also in possession of more than thirty manuals including a “terrorist, urban guerrilla, military, homemade explosives manufacturing manuals, a manual on the use and handling of firearms and one on the manufacture of firearms through 3D printing.”

A 3D Model of a Firearm.

The police also uncovered two 3D printers, 11 spools of filament for 3D printers and numerous computer devices used for manufacturing. Furthermore, they found 19 short gun frames which had been manufactured using 3D printing, nine magazines, two silencers, two unnumbered short gun slides, two pieces for rifling barrels, two firing pins, a replica AR-15 Airsoft assault rifle, a carbine with telescopic sight, several metal tubes for making barrels, a holographic scope, a plastic mold for making frames and various short gun parts. There were also several non-firearm related weapons that were seized including two taser pistols, five knives, a machete, and even a katana, they did not however specify if these had been additively manufactured.