Over a thousand weapons were seized by authorities Wednesday, hoarded inside a home in the upscale Los Angeles neighborhood Holmby Hills.
Girard Saenz, 57, was arrested by Los Angeles Police officers at his mansion on charges of violating California’s ban on assault weapons and .50 Browning Machine Gun rifles. He is reported to have stocked weapons in another location in Chinatown, per CNN.
Holmby Hills — Google Maps
California law mostly prohibits manufacture, distribution, transportation, importation and sale of any assault rifle or .50 BMG rifles, and the complaint that led to Saenz’s arrest involved the sale of firearms. More charges, including federal, could be brought.
Officials say have not found any evidence connecting Saenz to terrorism.
Reporting by Cheri Mossburg and Amanda Jackson, CNN:
Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Los Angeles police officers served a search warrant in an investigation of someone suspected of manufacturing and selling illegal firearms, Los Angeles police Officer Jeff Lee said.
The property resembled “a hoarder’s house” and it took 30 law enforcement officers more than 15 hours to clear the house and remove all the weapons, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told CNN.
Police also searched a home about 15 miles away, near Chinatown, the source said.
ATF said in a written statement that authorities were informed anonymously that an individual was “conducting illegal firearms transaction outside the scope of the federal firearm license” possessed by the suspect. Police also seized *firearm manufacturing equipment* and related tools at his home.
[PHOTOS OF WEAPONS SEIZED AT INCIDENT COURTESY LAPD/ATF]