Drizzt
Member
Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia)
April 12, 2003 Saturday
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 15
LENGTH: 429 words
HEADLINE: Gun built into mobile phone
BYLINE: MARK MOOR
BODY:
A NEW James Bond-style gun disguised as a mobile phone has been seized by police in Melbourne.
Police yesterday confirmed the weapons were on the streets after confiscating one of the phone pistols during a raid earlier this week.
They said they were the latest covert weapons being used among gangs and criminals.
Police would not divulge details of the weapon but it is believed to be similar to mobile phone guns seized in France and Britain last year.
According to the High Technology Crime Investigation Association, an international hi-tech crime organisation, the guns were first discovered during a drug raid in Amsterdam three years ago.
The US-based association is an international body of private investigators and senior-level security professionals who regularly analyse hi-tech crime and weapons.
The guns are loaded by splitting the "phone" in half and inserting .22 calibre bullets. The ammunition is hidden under the screen.
To cock the covert device, the user twists the phone, which is then fired by dialling set numbers on the phone's keypad.
The weapons found overseas are four-shot semi-automatics. They have the ability to fire four bullets before having to be reloaded, and are accurate to a distance of less than 10m.
Gun Control Australia spokesman John Crook called the mobile phone guns a curse to society.
"These guns worry us enormously as a covert gun is likely to get into the hands of the most unscrupulous of people and used in the most dangerous of ways," Mr Crook said.
"These weapons start out with no safety features, no checks and no legality. We urge the Federal Government and Customs to do everything they can to stop them."
Mr Crook said the new Australian Crime Commission must look at the problem and treat it as a matter of urgency before it proliferates in Australia.
While no guns have been found entering Australia, a spokesman for the Australian Customs Service said Customs was aware of international seizures and was constantly analysing intelligence.
The gun found in Melbourne on Tuesday was a part of a stash of other firearms, drugs and stolen Harley-Davidson motorbikes.
Detectives from the organised crime squad conducted 18 dawn raids on properties connected to the Brothers Motorcycle Club in north and western Melbourne suburbs.
The gun was believed to have been found at the Brothers headquarters in Yarraville, where two members were injured last year with gunshot wounds.
Eight members of the bikie gang were arrested and charged with possession of illegal firearms.
April 12, 2003 Saturday
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 15
LENGTH: 429 words
HEADLINE: Gun built into mobile phone
BYLINE: MARK MOOR
BODY:
A NEW James Bond-style gun disguised as a mobile phone has been seized by police in Melbourne.
Police yesterday confirmed the weapons were on the streets after confiscating one of the phone pistols during a raid earlier this week.
They said they were the latest covert weapons being used among gangs and criminals.
Police would not divulge details of the weapon but it is believed to be similar to mobile phone guns seized in France and Britain last year.
According to the High Technology Crime Investigation Association, an international hi-tech crime organisation, the guns were first discovered during a drug raid in Amsterdam three years ago.
The US-based association is an international body of private investigators and senior-level security professionals who regularly analyse hi-tech crime and weapons.
The guns are loaded by splitting the "phone" in half and inserting .22 calibre bullets. The ammunition is hidden under the screen.
To cock the covert device, the user twists the phone, which is then fired by dialling set numbers on the phone's keypad.
The weapons found overseas are four-shot semi-automatics. They have the ability to fire four bullets before having to be reloaded, and are accurate to a distance of less than 10m.
Gun Control Australia spokesman John Crook called the mobile phone guns a curse to society.
"These guns worry us enormously as a covert gun is likely to get into the hands of the most unscrupulous of people and used in the most dangerous of ways," Mr Crook said.
"These weapons start out with no safety features, no checks and no legality. We urge the Federal Government and Customs to do everything they can to stop them."
Mr Crook said the new Australian Crime Commission must look at the problem and treat it as a matter of urgency before it proliferates in Australia.
While no guns have been found entering Australia, a spokesman for the Australian Customs Service said Customs was aware of international seizures and was constantly analysing intelligence.
The gun found in Melbourne on Tuesday was a part of a stash of other firearms, drugs and stolen Harley-Davidson motorbikes.
Detectives from the organised crime squad conducted 18 dawn raids on properties connected to the Brothers Motorcycle Club in north and western Melbourne suburbs.
The gun was believed to have been found at the Brothers headquarters in Yarraville, where two members were injured last year with gunshot wounds.
Eight members of the bikie gang were arrested and charged with possession of illegal firearms.
