An officer inspects weapons found during raids in Sorrento and Waikiki.
Camera IconAn officer inspects weapons found during raids in Sorrento and Waikiki. Credit: Supplied/Australian Customs and Border Protection Service

Banned weapons seized

Mark Donaldson, Joondalup TimesWanneroo Times

More than 4500 rounds of ammunition were also seized.

Australian Customs and Border Protection Service officers allege a 50-year-old man at the home had attempted to import illegal handgun accessories from Israel.

Customs officers, detector dogs and the WA Police Licensing Compliance Unit searched the property on August 22.

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Items seized included an SKS rifle ” a gun with Soviet origins which was once popular in Australia but became restricted when gun laws tightened following the 1996 mass murder in Tasmania.

Officers also confiscated a double barrel shotgun, a handgun, four rifles, crossbow, seven laser pointers, a 15-round magazine, an air rifle and an air pistol.

Investigators then targeted a Waikiki home last Tuesday, where they allege a 37-year-old man also had an SKS rifle, an electric shock device and other weapons.

Both men had WA firearms licences, which were now under review.

Officers did not believe the two men were linked.

WA Police Inspector Dale Davies, of the Licensing Enforcement Division, said the public should be concerned a dangerous weapon like the SKS was ready for use.

‘A seizure such as this raises the obvious question of whether these people are fit and proper to be granted the privilege of holding firearm licences in WA,’ he said.

Customs WA regional director Rod O’Donnell said the raids sent a stark warning to illegal weapons importers.

‘Illegal importation of firearms and firearms parts is taken very seriously by Customs and Border Protection,’ he said.

‘By co-operating with our WA |Police partners we’ve kept WA safer from the potential scourge of gun crime.’