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More than 350 websites allegedly used to sell illegal gun switches and silencers from China have been shut down by US authorities, the officials announced on Wednesday.
Switches transform semiautomatic pistols into fully automatic ones, while silencers suppress the sound of a firearm when it is discharged.
Federal investigators claim that some of the websites also sold counterfeit items, including switches that they falsely represented as being made by Glock. However, Glock has never created switches.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts stated in a statement on Wednesday that it is illegal under the National Firearms Act to possess conversion devices or import them from China.
“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.” He said
Federal authorities began their undercover investigation into the illegal activities in 2023 by purchasing the items through websites offering the prohibited goods.
After that, it is said that the contraband was sent from China to mailboxes under government control in the United States. According to US authorities, the boxes the conversion devices were shipped in were mislabeled to disguise their contents and their “alleged illegal importation,” often referring to them as “necklaces” or “toys.”
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The U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Boston Division inspector in charge, Ketty Larco-Ward, stated, “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.”