The Italian Carabinieri arrested a 22-year-old Cuban on Thursday who turned the basement of his home in Rome into a clandestine laboratory, where he manufactured an arsenal of weapons and ammunition, authorities reported in a statement.
The Cuban, identified as Edgar Molina, had numerous weapons in the basement of his home, including a dangerous fully homemade submachine gun, a repainted pistol with a partially worn serial number, a dog repellent pistol, and one shaped like a pen, also made by him.
Molina also kept a loaded revolver under the pillow of his bed.
During the property registration, the Carabinieri (militarized police) discovered, in addition to the weapons, numerous materials and precision tools, such as lathes, saws, and other equipment necessary for the production of the devices, as well as handwritten instructions in Spanish by the youth, including the blueprints for manufacturing the armaments.
With the assistance of the bomb squad carabinieri from the Provincial Command of Rome, two large containers of homemade tear gas, gunpowder, and materials for creating dangerous pyrotechnic devices were also seized.
Similarly, the agents found 100 homemade cartridges and 20 grams of hashish.
Molina was arrested and taken to prison on suspicion of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, as well as the illegal manufacture of weapons and ammunition. The Italian police are investigating whether the young man was working for more organized criminal groups.
His arrest took place at his home in Villaggio Falcone, in the Ponte di Nona neighborhood, by carabinieri from the Settecamini police station in Rome and the operational unit of the Tivoli company, in accordance with the Rome Prosecutor's Office.
The police had launched a raid in that area of the Italian capital after an 81-year-old woman, identified as Caterina Ciurleo, was killed by a stray bullet during a shootout between criminal gangs on May 23, according to Italian media reports.
The agents decided to search Molina's house because he had previously been arrested for drug trafficking, and there they found "a young man who was ready to wage war," the investigators said.
The Cuban is regarded by the police as "fully capable of building, modifying, and increasing the power of various weapons."
The statement also noted that the case is currently in the preliminary investigation phase and "the suspect must be presumed innocent until a possible final verdict is reached."
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