Police and federal authorities in Girona, Spain, as well as in various other locations in the country, rounded up the weapons throughout January. In the armaments haul are anti-aircraft machine guns, shells, grenades and assault rifles.
Officials announced the haul only recently, as the process of taking inventory required additional time to count the weapons.
The Spanish National Police, in cooperation with Europol, arrested five people in connection with the illegal cache, and claim that the weapons were bought legally, primarily from military groups auctioning off aging armaments. They were intended to be sold by a firearms-trafficking ring to criminal elements.
Many of the weapons are of Spanish manufacture, according to reports, including legally purchased deactivated guns that can be made functional with easily available aftermarket parts.
Authorities also seized some 80,000 euros in cash (about $85,000) as well as parts, tools and machines for the maintenance and modification of the military hardware.
