The Civil Guard, in collaboration with the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, Europol, and law enforcement partners from eight other nations, launched a sweeping operation targeting illegal international arms trafficking. The result was a substantial crackdown: 760 weapons seized and 80 individuals detained.
This initiative, codenamed Diana Vizardlike, stands as a clear front in the ongoing effort to dismantle arms-smuggling networks that fund criminal activity and terrorist operations. The operation traces its origins back to 2019, when officers from the Civil Guard Information Service and the British NCA identified a large network supplying unlawful firearms to European markets, including Spain.
Crucial to the scheme was the procurement of firearms through online channels and through licensed vendors, with some weapons initially purchased as alarm or signal devices, commonly referred to as detonators or blanks. These items were subsequently converted into functioning firearms capable of discharging live ammunition, enabling criminal actors to turn inert devices into lethal weapons.
The Civil Guard notes that the illicit supply chain drew participants from many countries around the globe. In the European Union, and particularly in the United Kingdom, many offenders used fictitious identities, false addresses, or cloned payment instruments to mask their activities. The weapons involved in the seizure raised particular concern in several jurisdictions where non-lethal items were frequently repurposed for violent crime, underscoring a troubling shift in the threat landscape.
Once the pattern of gun conversions was uncovered, investigators from the Civil Guard Information Service conducted a thorough examination of thousands of firearm transactions involving foreign buyers. The teams monitored nearly 2,000 sales, aimed at understanding whether these purchases were legitimate or intended for illicit ends. When suspicious activity appeared, Europol and national police services stepped in to trace the buyers back to their points of origin and to disrupt the flow of weapons.
The intelligence gathered over years of meticulous enforcement work culminated in a coordinated multilateral operation. The teams coordinated across borders through 20 European Investigation Orders and 540 exchanges of information and formal requests for international cooperation. During the course of the operation, authorities conducted 150 on-site actions, including searches and seizures, in countries such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Belgium, and Romania. These efforts led to the confiscation of more than 760 firearms and the arrest of 80 individuals.
Alongside firearms, authorities seized ammunition, chemical precursors with explosive potential, detonators, silencers, and other devices that could be used to modify and enhance weapon capabilities. The seizure of these ancillary items underscored the breadth of the operation and its impact on the broader illicit supply chain.
The investigation revealed that many of the confiscated weapons had already undergone manipulation to render them lethal, subsequently entering the criminal network. Those involved included individuals with extensive criminal records tied to organized crime, drug trafficking, violent robberies, and other serious offenses. The scale of the operation highlighted how interlinked criminal groups rely on illicit arms to sustain a range of harmful activities across borders.