Marine from Kaplan accused of selling guns

Courtesy of WAVY-TV

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. (WAVY.com) -- A Kaplan man is one of three Marines behind bars. Virginia Beach Police say they were manufacturing and selling high powered rifles.

Police say the suspects had access to gun parts and were taking them home and rebuilding the weapons.

“They are highly dangerous weapons, especially if they get into the wrong hands,” said Virginia Beach Police Officer Adam Bernstein. “Our concern in this case is that they don’t know who they are selling it to.”

Virginia Beach Police say they started watching 21-year-old Drew Turnage from Kaplan, 25-year-old Michael Avants and 23-year-old Robert Sterling weeks ago. When police found out they were military they contacted NCIS. Together they arrested the Marines.

“They were M-4’s which are essentially the same thing which Special Forces carries in Iraq,” added Officer Bernstein.

Turnage and Avants live together in an apartment in Norfolk, off of Mariner’s Way. A neighbor says she saw one of the suspects with the guns earlier in the week.

Police say the Marines had access to gun parts which they were taking home from Naval Station Norfolk. For now the guns are off the streets and so are the men accused of selling them.

In July, Virginia Beach police and Naval Criminal Investigative Service officials began looking into the possible sale of illegal firearms and the disappearance of military weapon parts scheduled for destruction.

The investigation led to Turnage and Avants, who were seen trying to deal a semiautomatic rifle and a fully automatic rifle on Tuesday on the 3900 block of Holland Road.

All three Marines are being held inside the Virginia Beach City Jail without bond. Combined they are facing 18 felony charges.