The Spanish Civil Guard has arrested two people for clandestinely manufacturing firearms and ammunition in a workshop located in a rural house in Portaloa (Almería). They were converting alarm and signal pistols so they could fire live ammunition. They then sold them online and shipped them to other European countries.
Since 2023, these two individuals, of Belgian and Dutch nationality, had been operating a digital platform and using false identities to sell weapons and ammunition. One of them, a former soldier in his country of origin, possessed extensive knowledge of how to manipulate signal and alarm weapons to make them fire.
It was in March 2025 when the Civil Guard began the investigation because it detected and intercepted in Spain and the Netherlands three pistols sent under false identities from the province of Almería.
All the seized pistols were originally alarm or signal weapons modified to fire. These converted blank-firing guns have the same lethality and characteristics as real firearms, and their possession and trade are therefore prohibited and punishable at both the national and European levels.
16 firearms and abundant ammunition found in a clandestine workshop
A few weeks ago, the perpetrators were arrested and a house in Portaloa (Almería) was searched. There, 16 firearms, a large quantity of ammunition of various calibers, components, tools, and machinery specifically used for weapons manipulation and the illegal manufacture of ammunition were seized. Along with the three pistols initially located, a total of 19 firearms have been seized in this investigation.
This operation, which is part of the Civil Guard’s Comprehensive Plan for the Control of Firearms (PICAF), has made it possible to dismantle an illegal arms supply channel at the European level and initiate several investigations in different countries.
The investigation was led by the head of the Civil and Preliminary Investigation Section of the Court of First Instance No. 1 of Huércal-Overa (Almería). It was carried out jointly by various investigative units of the Civil Guard, with the collaboration of police forces from the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, and Europol.