44 Guns Flagged by INTERPOL, Seized in Africa, Returned to U.S.

Washington, DC - A special agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) detailed to Interpol Washington, the U.S. National Central Bureau (USNCB), took custody of 44 firearms which had been returned to the U.S. from Africa by FBI special agents June 17 at Dulles International Airport.

All 44 guns were seized in Africa at different times during 2024 and 2025 as a direct result of them being flagged by USNCB in Interpol’s Illicit Arms Records and tracing Management System (iARMS) as “trafficked/smuggled” from the U.S. This is the first known instance of firearms seized overseas due to iARMS being returned to the U.S.

The return of these 44 guns will assist eight different ATF investigations involving international weapons smuggling.

Since Jan. 1, USNCB has received 51 “hits” or recovery notifications in iARMS, which currently places the U.S. first among all 196 INTERPOL member countries. By comparison, USNCB received a total of 46 hits for all of 2025 in iARMS.

“This successful recovery demonstrates the power of international information sharing and the value of leveraging INTERPOL’s global databases to combat illicit firearms trafficking,” said Dan Vizzi, Acting Director of INTERPOL Washington, USNCB. “Through strong partnerships with our domestic and international counterparts, we are making communities safer and preventing weapons from remaining in the hands of criminals.”

“These firearms recoveries demonstrate how coordinated international action directly disrupts the criminal networks that drive violent crime,” said Justin Hoecker, Acting Chief of the National Firearms Trafficking Center. “ATF is proud to stand with our partners across the globe to identify traffickers, seize illegal weapons, and prevent their use in violence both overseas and here at home.”

“Combatting the spread of illicit arms is not something that the FBI can do alone,” said Assistant Director Heith Janke of the FBI’s Criminal Division. “We are proud of the strong coordination and collaboration with our partners that led to our agent’s role in the return of the weapons.”

With more than 1.5 million records INTERPOL’s iARMS is the only global database dedicated to tracking lost, stolen, smuggled, and trafficked firearms. Law enforcement and international security officials rely on it to uncover smuggling routes, map criminal networks, and identify weapons diverted into illicit possession. Police worldwide can record illicit firearms in the iARMS database.

INTERPOL Washington U.S. National Central Bureau formally integrated with the U.S. Marshals Service in February, uniting two globally recognized agencies under a unified operational mission and reinforcing a shared objective to strengthen global law enforcement coordination in support of public safety at home and abroad. This historic realignment strengthens the U.S. government’s ability to combat transnational crime by locating, identifying, and apprehending international fugitives, ensuring that dangerous criminals find no safe harbor anywhere in the world.