U.S. officials have seized more than 350 websites that allegedly were used to sell illegal gun switches and silencers from China, the officials said Wednesday.
Switches transform semiautomatic pistols into fully automatic ones, while silencers suppress the sound of a firearm when it is discharged.
Some of the websites also dealt in counterfeit goods, including switches they advertised as being produced by Glock, but Glock has never manufactured switches, federal authorities said.
Possession of the conversion devices and their importation from China are illegal under the National Firearms Act, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts said in a statement Wednesday.
“These websites represent a large-scale, organized effort to import illegal switches and silencers that turn ordinary firearms into deadly automatic weapons,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol for Homeland Security Investigations in New England. “HSI has worked diligently with our partners to systematically dismantle this network of websites to uphold our nation’s import laws and to preserve public safety.”
Federal authorities began their undercover investigation into the illegal activities in 2023 by purchasing the items through websites offering the prohibited goods.
The contraband was then allegedly shipped from China to U.S. government-controlled mailboxes in the U.S. Federal prosecutors said the boxes the conversion devices were shipped in were falsely labeled, in some instances as a “necklace” or “toys,” to disguise the contents and to hide their “alleged illegal importation.”
“The results of this investigation have, to date, resulted in the seizure of over 700 devices which would covert a firearm into a machine gun, 87 illegal suppressors, 59 handguns, 36 long guns, as well as the seizure of 355 websites which were used to facilitate the trafficking of these items,” said Ketty Larco-Ward, inspector in charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.
