National

Military-style weapons seized in safe house raid

By Farid Farid

Jul 9, 2026

A semi-automatic rifle — A teen boy was among those arrested after police seized semi-automatic weapons in a raid. -PR HANDOUT

A series of public shootings have led police to an alleged safe house where they found military-style weapons in an early morning raid.

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NSW Police arrested 11 people, including a 16-year-old boy, on Tuesday around 7am in Punchbowl, in southwest Sydney.

Officers found three military automatic self-loading rifles, one semi-automatic rifle and one semi-automatic pistol along with ammunition, police said.

Eight men aged between 18 and 22, two women aged 20 and 21, and the teen boy were arrested and charged with firearm offences.

The two young women and a teenage boy were granted bail after facing court on Wednesday, with the others reportedly remanded in custody until September 2.

The Taskforce Falcon investigations were prompted after three alleged public place shootings in April.

One took place on April 9 about 4.30am in Kanahooka on the shores of Lake Illawarra, near Wollongong.

The other two shootings on April 12 occurred near the safe house's location in the Sydney suburbs of Punchbowl and Greenacre around 3am.

Police said several shots were fired at two homes in separate drive-by shootings with the alleged offenders fleeing the scene.

Taskforce Falcon was established in May 2025 to investigate escalating gangland violence and organised crime syndicates.