Three Arrested in Ventura County for Manufacturing Unregistered Firearms

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 following a months-long investigation.

The arrests occurred on Nov. 27, when deputies apprehended two 17-year-olds in Thousand Oaks and executed a search warrant on their vehicle and a residence in the Santa Rosa Valley. Detectives seized 19 illegal or unlawfully possessed firearms, ammunition, and firearm components, according to a news release issued Friday by the sheriff’s office.

Evidence linked a 45-year-old male relative of the teenagers to several of the seized pistols. He was also taken into custody. Authorities have not released the identities of the suspects.

“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 statement noted.

The investigation began in May after Homeland Security Investigations intercepted internationally shipped packages addressed to one of the 17-year-olds at the Santa Rosa Valley residence. The packages contained unserialized counterfeit parts for pistols and devices to convert semiautomatic rifles into fully automatic weapons.

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

Over the following months, federal authorities intercepted additional packages containing six counterfeit firearm parts and two machine gun conversion devices allegedly ordered by the same teenager.

The first 17-year-old faces multiple charges, including attempted unlawful transfer of a firearm, attempted illegal possession of a machine gun, and carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle. The second teenager was arrested on charges of resisting an officer, unlawful transfer of a firearm, and carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle.

The 45-year-old male relative faces charges of conspiracy to commit a crime and unlawful transfer of a firearm.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Gun Violence Reduction Program led the investigation, with the operation to seize weapons involving the sheriff’s SWAT team and officers from the Oxnard and Ventura police departments.