A firearms trafficking network operating between Belgium and France has been dismantled, with eight people charged after a joint operation that led to the seizure of 178 weapons and 370kg of ammunition.

The prosecutor’s office in Charleville-Mézières announced on Saturday that the suspects were charged on Friday following what it described as a major judicial operation carried out earlier this week.

The coordinated raid took place on Tuesday and resulted in the arrest of nine people, according to Magali Josse, the public prosecutor in Charleville-Mézières.

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Those detained included eight French nationals and one Belgian national, who was arrested by the federal judicial police in Namur, Colonel Christian Robert, head of the Reims investigation unit, told AFP.

Robert said the haul included firearms from all categories, ranging from war weapons to arms that are subject only to declaration rules.

The eight French suspects were brought before an investigating judge at the Charleville-Mézières judicial court on Friday with a view to being formally charged, Josse said.

Four of them were placed in pre-trial detention, while the other four were placed under judicial supervision.

The Belgian suspect is due to appear before the courts at a later date, Robert added.

The operation followed reports at the end of 2025 of suspicious activity involving a person who was regularly using firearms in the Ardennes, according to the prosecutor’s statement.

Those reports triggered a preliminary investigation led by the Reims investigation unit and the Sedan research brigade.

After links with Belgium were established, a judicial investigation against persons unknown was opened in April 2026 on suspicion of acquiring, possessing, transporting and selling category A and B weapons or weapon parts and ammunition as part of a group, as well as money laundering and criminal conspiracy.

Further inquiries are continuing, particularly to establish the origin and traceability of the seized weapons, Robert said.