Three arrested on suspicion of illegally manufacturing guns in Ventura County

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department has arrested two teenagers and a 45-year-old man on suspicion of manufacturing unregistered handguns and automatic rifles.

After a months-long investigation, deputies arrested two 17-year-olds on Nov. 27 in Thousand Oaks and served a warrant to search their car and a residence in the Santa Rosa Valley, according to the sheriff’s office. As part of the operation, detectives seized 19 illegal or unlawfully possessed firearms as well as related components and a “significant amount� of ammunition, the office said in a Friday news release.

Evidence was found linking a relative of the two teenagers, a 45-year-old man, to several pistols recovered, and he was also arrested. The identities of the three suspects were not disclosed.

“While detectives are actively investigating the motive behind the suspects’ possession of the seized firearms, there is currently no evidence of a broader threat to public safety,� the sheriff’s news release said.

The investigation began in May after investigators with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations intercepted internationally shipped packages addressed to one of the 17-year-olds living at a residence in Santa Rosa Valley. The packages held unserialized counterfeit parts used in certain pistols and parts that can convert semiautomatic rifles into fully automatic machine guns, according to the sheriff’s office.

“Several of these parts being imported into the U.S. from other countries, that was the catalyst for this investigation,� said detective Joshua Janca.

After the devices were turned over to detectives, they launched a criminal investigation. Over the course of the next several months, that 17-year old allegedly attempted to have more packages of firearm parts shipped to his address, which were also intercepted by federal authorities. Six counterfeit parts and two machine gun conversion devices were seized in those months, the sheriff’s office said.

The 17-year old was arrested on suspicion of attempted unlawful transfer of a firearm, attempted possession of a firearm by a minor, attempted illegal possession of a machine gun, attempted unlawful conversion of a machine gun and carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle. The second 17-year old was arrested on suspicion of resisting obstructing or delaying an officer, unlawful transfer of a firearm and carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle. The male relative was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit a crime and the unlawful transfer of a firearm.

Detectives with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Gun Violence Reduction Program led the investigation. The operation to seize the weapons was jointly handled by members of the sheriff office’s SWAT team as well as Oxnard and Ventura police departments.