Police seize dozens of guns from 3D-printing operations in N.S. and N.B.

Police in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have seized dozens of firearms and 3D printers used to make them as part of a national investigation.

RCMP in Nova Scotia carried out search warrants Tuesday at homes in Pictou and Victoria counties. This was apart of cross-country raids that ended with the arrest of 45 people and the seizure of 440 weapons Canada-wide.

As officers entered the Pictou County home, they found a 3D-printed handgun in the process of being made, the RCMP said in a statement Friday.

Also seized were 23 firearms, an extendable baton, two suppressors, a pistol-long gun conversion kit, a 3D-printed extended magazine and brass knuckles, police said.

Two men and a woman were inside the home. Police plan to charge each of them, said RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Chris Marshall.

“Our investigators are just taking some time to process all the information they’ve collected to determine what the appropriate charges are going to be,” he said.

At the home in Victoria County, police arrested a man and a woman. Both were released, but the man is due in court at an unknown date.

Police reportedly seized a 3D printer, 16 guns, 16 boxes of ammo, resin and electronics. Marshall said, however, no guns seized there were 3D printed.

The inside of a 3D printer is pictured with a handgun partially made inside. (RCMP)

The national investigation, known as Project Reproduction, is being led by partner law-enforcement agencies in Quebec and Ontario and targets the manufacturing and trafficking of privately made firearms, said Marshall.

“There were people in Nova Scotia that were identified as possibly being involved with some other targets in other parts of the country,” he said.

In New Brunswick, as part of the same national operation, a 25-year-old woman and 30-year-old man from Geary were arrested after police found 11 firearms, including eight 3D-printed handgun frames, at their residence.

Police also seized six prohibited weapons, a prohibited firearm conversion kit, several thousands rounds of ammunition, and eight prohibited devices — over-capacity magazines.

The twon were released and are scheduled to appear in Fredericton Provincial Court at a later date.

Guns and other items the RCMP says were seized during a raid in Nova Scotia. (RCMP)

Using a 3D printer to manufacture firearms is becoming more common, said Marshall. While legally-purchased guns are traceable, their 3D-printed counterparts are not. They are increasingly showing up at crime scenes in Canada.

“It becomes a concern for further criminality,” he said.

Guns and other items including a 3D printer that the RCMP says were seized during a raid in Nova Scotia. (RCMP)

A Halifax-area woman was shot with a 3D-printed gun in October. The 20-year-old was sent to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, but investigators later said the shooting was likely an accident. Police found the gun during a search warrant at a property a day later.

Marshall said police are trying to learn more about the evolving technology. “These are things we are looking at and we’re trying to combat.”

A gun the RCMP says was seized during a raid in Nova Scotia. (RCMP)

With files from The Canadian Press