War is a hotbed of illegal arms trafficking, and as the conflict in Ukraine drags on, more and more weapons may be changing hands among criminal gangs. In many cases, it cannot be excluded that Western weapons intended for Ukraine end up on the black market.

Illegal arms in Ukraine

During a search of a house, officers of the Transcarpathian National Security Service, in cooperation with the Ukrainian Security Service and the State Border Guard Service, found a large number of illegal weapons and ammunition. The suspect was previously arrested for

selling ammunition for almost 200 automatic weapons. After that, the court ordered the search, the website of the Ukrainian police wrote, also sharing photos of the weapons seized. The arsenal found in the suspect’s house included grenades and tools for making homemade weapons.

The man is now in pre-trial detention, but can be released on a bail until his court hearing. Investigators are currently looking into the origin of the illegal weapons seized. It is increasingly recognised that the war is a hotbed of illegal arms trade, so the longer an armed conflict goes on and the more arms are sent to the front from third countries, the more likely it is that these arms shipments will not make it to their destination but will end up on the black market.

“There is a possibility that criminals operating in Finland are trying to obtain weapons from conflict zones,”

“The police seize numerous unlicensed weapons from members of organised crime every year and are aware that individual operators are interested in weapons used in war zones. The police have indications that, in the long run, members of organised crime may try to acquire weapons from Ukraine, too,” the statement reads.

Europol, which provides assistance to the member states’ law enforcement authorities in the effort against serious international crimes and terrorism, has recently indicated that there is a danger that the weapons intended for Ukraine will fall into the hands of criminal organizations. But NATO and the EU have also issued an alert in the summer about arms smuggling in Ukraine. The authorities first wanted to eradicate this part of the black market with tracking systems. Vilaggazdasag, a Hungarian economic newspaper, recalled that a month before, Interpol – the international organization that helps police cooperation – warned that the weapons sent to Ukraine could reach criminal organizations and that these groups would grow stronger as more and more weapons arrived in Ukraine.

Criminal gangs in France could have laid their hands on weapons intended for Ukraine

A large amount of weapons from Ukraine could be circulating among criminal gangs in the French city of Marseille, said Dominique Rizet, legal specialist, on a programme aired by the French television channel BFM-TV. The issue came into the limelight after three people were killed in a recent shootout in front of a nightclub in the city. Police suspect that it was a showdown between rival drug-trafficking gangs. Ten days earlier, a woman who is not into the drug business was killed after getting caught in the crossfire of a shootout.

Just like the Yugoslav wars, the conflict in Ukraine can be an opportunity for mafia networks to give a boost to arms trafficking and the black market.

UK sounded alarm bells barely two months ago

British weapons expert Paul James is convinced that millions of weapons could circulate when the Ukraine war ends, with many ending up in the hands of criminal gangs. Mr James compared the appearance of weapons from Ukraine on the Western market to a time bomb waiting to explode, the BBC wrote.

“From experience, over the last 15 to 20 years, the guns from the Western Balkans have been the main source of firearms trafficked into Europe. They have been used in a lot of very high-profile crime and terrorist incidents, and we’re still trying to reduce the flow of firearms from there. I think the situation in Ukraine is going to be much worse than that,”

warned the weapons expert in the British public media.