Four Forbes men and a Peak Hill man were arrested on Wednesday by a special police strikeforce which had been monitoring the syndicate for the past five months.

The four Forbes men were held in custody to appear for a bail hearing in Parkes Local Court yesterday.

The men did not apply for bail.

An 84-year-old Forbes man has been charged with ongoing supply of firearms, selling unregistered firearm/pistol, possessing ammunition and other offences.

At his suburban home police seized at least 300 firearms, in excess of 200,000 rounds of ammunition and more than 50 kilograms of gun powder.

The police have confirmed he was a licensed gun dealer operating out of his home.

A 55-year-old Forbes man was charged with aggravated possession of firearms, possessing unregistered firearms, possessing prohibited pistol barrels and other offences.

A 63-year-old Forbes man was charged with possessing unregistered firearms, possessing prohibited weapons (silencer and hand grenade) and other offences.

A 36-year-old Forbes man was charged with possessing unregistered firearms, possessing prohibited weapons and other offences.

The fifth man, a 37-year-old from Peak Hill, was charged with possessing prohibited firearms, possessing prohibited weapons (silencer), using prohibited firearms, and other offences.

He was granted bail yesterday afternoon and will reappear in Dubbo Local Court this morning.

Police anticipate further charges will be laid once all the seized firearms have been processed.

They expect forensic testing will take several days.

The investigation is ongoing.

A hand grenade and tens of thousands of ammunition rounds were found in a Forbes man’s house during a police raid on Wednesday afternoon.

The 63-year-old man was the fifth person arrested following a mass police raid throughout the western region this week.

Police allege the man had an arsenal of 40 firearms, hundreds of boxes of ammunition, silencers and a hand grenade stored at his suburban home.

The grenade was still active and capable of causing an explosion.

Concerned police secured the area surrounding the man’s home following the discovery of the grenade until an Australian Defence Force explosive ordnance disposal operator assessed and removed it.

Six businesses and private residences were raided in Forbes and Peak Hill with police seizing more than 350 firearms, up to 300,000 rounds of ammunition and 50kg of gun powder.

A large number of prohibited weapons was also seized, including high-powered slingshots, silencers and the grenade.

Three other Forbes men were arrested and charged with a range of offences including supplying, possessing and using illegal firearms and prohibited weapons.

Another man was arrested at Peak Hill after police seized a military-style assault rife and a number of other weapons.

The raids were conducted by special Strike Force Padley, a joint operation between the Firearms and Regulated Industries Crime Squad and the Lachlan Local Area Command.

The strike force was initiated to investigate illegal firearm trafficking in December last year and involved a five-month covert operation.

All five men will appear in Dubbo Local Court today.

The investigation into the firearm cache is ongoing.

Police expect many more people could be charged and have their firearms licences cancelled.

keely.bell@ruralpress.com