Two people are facing charges after a stash of prohibited high-powered weapons was recovered from a black-market machine-gun fabricating operation west of Edmonton.
Two of the weapons were homemade MAC-11 submachine pistols that were allegedly manufactured at a professional-grade machinist shop in Parkland County, without the knowledge of the shop’s owner.
The homemade MAC-11s were outfitted with suppressors and oversized magazines. They were fully automatic and one pull of the trigger would result in the entire magazine of 30 rounds being fired in “just seconds,” the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams said Wednesday.
ALERT is still investigating how many MAC-11s were manufactured, but believes some “have found their way to the criminal market.”
Officers seized four prohibited firearms, including this Beretta handgun equipped with a suppressor. (ALERT)
ALERT said its Edmonton guns and Gangs unit dismantled the trafficking ring on Aug. 17.
Officers searched two Edmonton homes and a rural property in Parkland County.
Officers seized four prohibited firearms in total, including a Beretta handgun equipped with a suppressor and a modified Suomi submachine gun with two oversized magazines.
The eight-month long investigation began after the RCMP’s national weapons enforcement support team received a tip about an Edmonton man trafficking firearms.
A man, 37 and a woman, 29, were arrested and jointly charged with a total of 62 criminal offences, including firearms trafficking and trafficking a prohibited device.
Both of the accused are scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 18.
Investigators are expected to release more details on the case at a news conference scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday at ALERT’s Edmonton headquarters.
ALERT officers searched three Edmonton-area properties and found a stash of made-in-Alberta weapons. (ALERT)