French authorities have arrested 45 people across France and in French overseas territories as part of an operation targeting international arms traffickers, police said Monday.
Thirty-eight people have so far been placed under formal detention and more arrests are expected, French police said in a statement.
Some 300 officers were involved in the sweep, which targeted military-grade arms, ammunition and weapons parts trafficked into the country from the Balkans and Slovakia since 2009.
The investigation into a possible smuggling ring was launched after military-grade handguns and rifles were seized during an arrest in the Haute-Marne region in February 2012. The inquiry initially implicated a Slovak arms trafficking syndicate, with links later discovered to another smuggling group based in the Balkans.
An influx of military-grade weapons, particularly Kalashnikov assault rifles, has been blamed for a rise in gang-related shootings in the southern port city of Marseille in recent years.
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