Eleven people from Grand Rapids and Benton Harbor, Michigan, were charged with crimes related to firearms and drug trafficking.
Local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement officials and Mark Totten, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, revealed the information on Dec. 15, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
"Today's action represents a major step forward in our efforts to combat the rise of violent crime in Michigan," Totten said in the news release.
Seven men were charged with possession and transfer of firearm conversion devices – so-called switches – the news release noted. These devices allow semi-automatic pistols to function like automatic machine guns. Minimal technical skill is needed to modify a weapon with a switch, which lets a semi-automatic pistol "fire over 1,000 rounds per minute with a single trigger pull."
"The destructive capacity of a firearm equipped with a switch is staggering," Totten said. "These devices are an emerging threat to our communities, our children, our law enforcement officers, and anyone who stands in the path of their indiscriminate spray."
Totten applauded the law enforcement departments that worked together on the case.
"These charges represent a remarkable, multi-agency effort that involved the FBI and 10 other federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners working together to keep west Michigan families safe," he said.
James Tarasca is special agent in charge of the FBI in Michigan, according to the news release.
"Fighting violent crime requires approaches tailored to the needs of individual communities," he said in the news release. "That is why our approach to disrupting this conspiracy to distribute firearms, switches, and drugs involved the kind of coordination you see here today. I believe it is the sacred duty of the FBI and our law enforcement partners to ensure people can live free from fear in their own homes and neighborhoods, and we will all continue to do everything we can to protect our communities from violent crime."
