Europol cuts off Turkish arms smuggling channel that also supplied Cyprus

French law enforcement, together with Europol, has dismantled a major international network involved in smuggling Turkish-made firearms. During a large-scale special operation, investigators found that the supply channels for these weapons extended to Cyprus as well, where they were in demand among local criminal groups.
Smugglers bought cheap blank-firing and gas weapons in Turkey, which were then legally brought into the EU and modified into live firearms at underground workshops. Hundreds of ready-to-use weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition were seized during the raids, and the key organizers behind the scheme, who arranged logistics through several European countries, were arrested.