2,823 small arms and light weapons seized in 17-country INTERPOL operation

INTERPOL reported 2,823 small arms and light weapons seized during Operation Trigger X, a police operation that ran from June 22 to July 5, 2026, across 17 countries in Europe and Central Asia. The organization published what it called its currently available operational results on Oct. 9.

Those results also include more than 40,000 pieces of ammunition and almost 400 hand grenades and explosives combined. INTERPOL separately specified that 268 of the seized items were hand grenades. Investigations are ongoing, so the figures are operational results rather than a final accounting of cases.

The categories are reported separately: the combined total of almost 400 covers hand grenades and explosives, while 268 is INTERPOL’s specific count of hand grenades. Participating authorities also reported 152 arrests relating to firearms possession or trafficking and other crimes, including drug trafficking, migrant smuggling and robbery. The arrest total is not a count of convictions or court decisions.

Country examples, not a full breakdown

The operation involved Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Poland, Serbia, Sweden, Tajikistan, Türkiye and Ukraine. INTERPOL provides selected country-specific examples but no comprehensive country-by-country breakdown of seizures or arrests.

Among the incidents it described, Bulgarian authorities impounded two trucks at the Lesovo crossing with Türkiye carrying more than 1,000 military-grade shotguns. At Bulgaria’s Kapitan Andreevo crossing, authorities seized 73 counterfeit handguns. In Serbia, the largest single reported grenade seizure was 68 grenades trafficked from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

INTERPOL also reported the seizure of 20 inflatable dinghies in Bulgaria. The organization said intelligence linked the boats to criminal networks involved in migrant smuggling and indicated they were intended for clandestine crossings of the English Channel. That description is attributed to intelligence cited by INTERPOL.

Authorities intercepted 15 people subject to INTERPOL Notices, including five fugitives wanted internationally under Red Notices. INTERPOL’s account does not establish whether those 15 people were additional to, or included among, the 152 reported arrests.

INTERPOL says some seized weapons were conflict-linked

INTERPOL said a substantial amount of the seized weaponry was linked to former or ongoing armed-conflict zones, including the Balkan region, Eastern Europe and Nagorno-Karabakh. The organization did not quantify how many weapons were linked to each area, and its statement does not establish that all seized weapons came from conflict zones.

The release includes specific incidents but does not provide a comprehensive case-by-case account of charges or outcomes for all 152 arrests. INTERPOL says investigations are ongoing; it gave no further procedural timetable.