Polish police have cracked down on a gang that has been dealing in weapons and drugs for years. Part of the weapons came from Slovakia, where they bought them as devalued.
Polish police detained six more people in a large-scale case of an organized group dealing in arms and drugs. Part of the weapons came from Slovakia, where they were legally acquired as defaced. This is reported by the Warsaw correspondent TASR, according to the PAP agency.
- Polish police detained six people in the case of weapons and drugs.
- Those arrested face charges of drug smuggling, weapons and gang membership.
- For years, the group bought devalued Slovak weapons and remade them in Poland.
- Modified weapons were distributed mainly to the Netherlands and used in murders.
- Five people ended up in custody and the main member got twelve years.
The suspects were detained on April 2 and 7, according to Katowice prosecutor’s spokesman Michal Binkiewicz, and are facing charges of participation in an organized group, drug trafficking, smuggling and illegal possession of weapons and ammunition.
The group and its activities
The group, operating between 2010 and 2016, was involved in violent debt collection in addition to arms and narcotics trafficking. Among those detained is also a courier mediating contacts between the Polish and Dutch branches of the group.
According to the findings of the investigators, the group purchased defaced weapons in Slovakia, which were sold, for example, as signal or training weapons. In Poland, they were modified into functional firearms in improvised workshops and further distributed mainly to the Netherlands.
Use of weapons in murders
According to investigators, weapons modified in Poland were also used in several murders abroad. In the past, the police seized hundreds of weapons modified in this way and gradually detained several members of the group in different countries.
The court in Katowice decided to prosecute five of the six detainees, one person will be prosecuted at liberty. The prosecutor’s office announced the continuation of the investigation with the aim of arresting other suspects.
Principal member convicted
As part of the case, one of the main members of the group was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2024.
