Spain breaks up illegal arms trafficking network

Spanish Civil Guards have made 25 arrests in an operation to break up a network dedicated to arms trafficking, they confirmed on Sunday.

As well as the 25 arrests, a further 17 people remained under investigation for supposed arms and drugs trafficking and illegal storage of weapons and explosives.

The operation began in the city of Seville in the south of Spain, and led to the seizure of 126 firearms and over 6,000 bullets, as well as 263 marijuana plants and 3,000 cartons of cigarettes.

The operation started in November of 2016 after the discovery of several advertisements in doorways offering the sale of replica weapons converted to allow them to fire real bullets.

A 53-year-old was identified as being behind the advertisement and he was detained in June along with 15 other buyers, with the marijuana plants discovered in one of the police raids, carried out in Granada.

Meanwhile, further investigations have led to more arrests in recent months and the Civil Guard highlight that the seizure of such a large number of weapons has avoided their presence on the black market "with the serious and unpredictable consequences this could have for the public if they fell into the hands of delinquents".