Deputies arrested two teenagers and a 45-year-old man for allegedly manufacturing and possessing unregistered guns and automatic rifles in Ventura County, officials announced Friday.
At the conclusion of a months-long investigation, detectives say they seized 16 illegal firearms, three unlawfully possessed firearms, numerous firearm components and a “significant amount” of ammunition from a Santa Rosa Valley residence.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office says the investigation began in May when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security intercepted internationally shipped packages destined for one of the two teens, who was believed to be residing in the 2000 block of Blanchard Road.
Given their age, the sheriff’s office only identified the two juveniles as 17-year-old boys from Camarillo.
The sheriff’s office says these packages contained unserialized counterfeit fire control units (FCU) and parts that convert semi-automatic rifles into fully automatic machine guns.
“The FCU is the core component of firearms like the Sig Sauer P320,” wrote the sheriff’s office in a release. “As the serialized and legally regulated part, it houses the trigger mechanism, sear, and other essential fire control components. Under U.S. federal law, the FCU is considered a firearm due to its serialized status.”
Sig Sauer P320 firearms are also commonly referred to as “ghost guns” or “privately manufactured firearms,” according to officials.
Authorities say the devices were turned over to detectives, who then launched a criminal investigation into the illegal firearms activity.
Throughout the next few months, detectives saw and intercepted more packages of firearm parts that the same 17-year-old attempted to have shipped to his address.
In total, detectives say they seized six counterfeit FCUs and two machine gun conversion devices by intercepting these packages.
Authorities obtained a search warrant with this evidence for the 17-year-old’s car and residence.
In the early morning hours of Nov. 27, authorities say they found the teen with the other 17-year-old suspect in the 100 block of Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks, and detectives took them both into custody.
They searched the teens’ car and found two unserialized pistols that the sheriff’s office says closely resembled Sig Sauer P320 firearms.
Investigators believe the ghost guns were manufactured by the initial 17-year-old suspect.
According to the sheriff’s office, SWAT team members assisted in serving the search warrant at the Santa Rosa Valley residence, seizing more firearm parts as well as two completed/unserialized pistols, an unserialized “P80” type pistol, two unserialized counterfeit FCUs, three unregistered pistols, a short-barreled AR-15 style rifle that had been converted to fully automatic, numerous loaded magazines and approximately 1,000 rounds of ammunition in various calibers.
Detectives found evidence linking the first 17-year-old boy to the automatic rifle and several of the unserialized pistols at the residence, and they found evidence linking the boy’s relative, 45-year-old Juan Mendoza, to several of the pistols.
“However, since the pistols were not registered to him, he was arrested for their unlawful possession,” wrote the sheriff’s office.
Deputies arrested the first 17-year-old on multiple felony and misdemeanor charges, including 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, unlawful transfer of a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle and carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle.
He was lodged at the Ventura County Juvenile Justice Facility, and officials say additional charges related to possession of an automatic rifle, possession of ammunition, and manufacture of firearms will be submitted to the District Attorney’s Office for review.
As for the second teen, the sheriff’s office says he was arrested and lodged at the same place on charges of resisting, obstructing, or delaying a peace officer, unlawful transfer of a firearm and carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle.
Deputies also arrested Mendoza and booked him at the Pre-Trial Detention Facility on felony charges of conspiracy to commit a crime and the unlawful transfer of a firearm.
“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,” said the sheriff’s office.