Record number of weapons seized as Victoria Police raid dodgy businesses

Dodgy businesses have been busted selling knives to young criminals after police seized a record number of weapons in huge stings across the state.

Dodgy businesses have been busted selling knives to young criminals as police seize a record number of weapons in huge stings across the state.

Officers confiscated 14,797 knives, swords, machetes and daggers last year, the most weapons uncovered in a single year over the past decade.

A stash of 930 blades hidden at a Dandenong South factory is among the most recent discoveries.

Police say a 40-year-old man from Toorak was behind that illegal stockpile and was knowingly selling samurai swords, zombie knives and katana swords to youth offenders.

Acting Commander Michael Cruse said police were cracking down on people selling banned weapons across the state because they had potentially “significant, terrible outcomes” if they were pulled out in a fight.

“I have seen the tragic outcomes of knives and edge weapons being used in offences, and it’s a split second and a young person’s life, or an adult’s life, is ended in a moment,” he said.

“If they don’t have a tragic consequence like that, then the loss of limbs, lifelong changing injuries are very common with this type of offending.

“The vast majority are prohibited from sale. We know that people are trying to exploit this opportunity by importing them and then selling them illegally and we’re targeting that.”

Senior Constable Lachlan McGillivray with some of the confiscated knives. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

It comes after a wave of terrifying attacks across Melbourne, including the alleged stabbing murder of 22-year-old model Nathan Mwanza at a Wyndham Vale bus stop last week.

An elderly man was also knifed to death inside a Geelong hotel.

24-year-old Lino Atem was also stabbed to death in Wyndham Vale in a frenzied group attack in January, and a birthday party brawl turned fatal when 23-year-old Karl Gruber-Terrick and his father, also named Karl, were stabbed to death last month.

Meanwhile, a 16-year-old boy was charged with attempted murder over an alleged knife fight in Forest Hill in December, and 22-year-old tradie Thomas Petzler was stabbed in the back in a random pack attack by a group of teens at Werribee train station.

The Herald Sun was given access to a specialised facility in Melbourne’s north east where police destroy swathes of knives, swords and guns.

The father of Nathan Mwanza arrives at the scene of his son’s fatal stabbing. Picture: David Crosling

Entire steel crates containing remnants of the dangerous weapons are bolted shut before being taken off-site to be melted down and destroyed.

Mr Cruse said most of those weapons were seized in targeted raids at houses and businesses linked to people selling them to the community illegally.

But youth gang members were the most likely to carry knives in public.

Under Operation Alliance, 466 known youth gang members were arrested 1,791 times and charged with 4,750 offences – an average of 10 charges each.

Mr Cruse said while stabbings had dropped by about three per cent in the past year, the community remained fearful of the potential number of weapons on the streets.

“Public perception is a significant issue. It is causing fear and apprehension,” he said.

“One stabbing is one too many.”

Officers have confiscated more than 14,000 weapons in the past year. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Police raided the Goodall Close factory earlier this month after being tipped off about the company giving weapons to youth offenders.

Investigators interviewed the Toorak man in relation to selling prohibited weapons to children, displaying prohibited weapons for sale, and possessing prohibited weapons without an exemption.

He was released but is likely to be charged on summons.

In 2023, police rounded up 13,063 sharp weapons.

That was up from the 12,324 weapons seized in 2022.

About 120,000 knives have been seized in the past decade.

The Herald Sun last month revealed that while the number of stabbings had overall remained stable in recent years, more people than ever were being admitted to Melbourne’s major hospitals with knife wounds.

Police intelligence shows that most reported stabbings are linked to domestic disputes or are inflicted by someone the victim knows.

Greater Dandenong, Casey and Cardinia Investigations and Response Inspector Natalie Dollard said there were “serious repercussions” for people selling weapons to children.

“In addition to our work at grassroots level, Victoria Police is also providing intelligence to Australian Border Force around the supply of illegal weapons into the country,” she said.