Police have charged two men with several offences following a June shooting that allegedly involved criminal gang members, and a targeted operation in Canberra's south on Monday night.
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Officers from Taskforce Nemesis and the Specialist Response Group stopped a 36-year-old Calwell man and a 21-year-old Crace man who were travelling in a vehicle on Monday night, seizing a loaded .357 calibre Ruger revolver.
A short time later, police searched a Calwell home and seized a loaded 22/250 Ruger bolt action rifle, a shortened Marlin nine-millimetre semi-automatic rifle, and a magazine containing .45 calibre pistol rounds.
Police said they also seized methamphetamine and a substance suspected to be MDMA, or ecstasy.
Both men found in the vehicle were arrested and charged with 10 offences, which police said stemmed from the June 28 shooting, which happened in Calwell, and the Monday night searches.
In the June 28 incident, police allege that two men suspected to be members of an outlaw bikie gang entered a home and fired several shots, one of which hit a man in the hand, before setting fire to three cars and shooting at a second house.
One bullet ripped through walls and missed a sleeping neighbour by about a metre, Detective Superintendent Scott Moller said the day after the incident.
The men arrested on Monday night face charges including two counts of unlawful possession of prohibited firearms, two counts of unauthorised possession of a firearm, three counts of failing to correctly store a firearm, two counts of possessing ammunition and one count of possessing a prohibited weapon.
They are due to appear in the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday, where police will oppose bail.
“The weapons seized by police are three fewer weapons that can be used to commit violent offences,” Detective Station Sergeant Harry Hains said.
“This operation is the latest in a series conducted by Taskforce Nemesis with the aim of disrupting criminal gang activity.
“If you have any information regarding illegal firearms, police want to hear from you.”