Vancouver police have gone public with details of a large-scale weapons bust at a downtown apartment building earlier this year.

This machine gun was put on display by Vancouver police on Friday.
(CBC)

In late April, officers discovered a large cache of weapons in a suite at the Citygate complex near Science World on False Creek.

They said they found the guns when they responded to a hang-up 911 call from a suite at 1128 Quebec St.  

When police arrived, a man was standing outside a suite, with the door open. He quickly turned to run back into the apartment, but by then police said they had managed a glance inside.

They then went and got a search warrant, and when they executed it found an extraordinary scene, according to Insp. Dean Robinson of the gangs and drug section.

"When I stepped into the room, immediately it was, 'Wow, what's going on here?' and it was actually somewhat awesome.

"Everywhere you looked, as you cast your eye around the suite — and it didn't matter where you looked — you saw something that was related to firearms, whether it was a firearm itself, ammunition, gun cases. Then there was the swastika."

Police say they found this swastika flag in the bedroom of the apartment.
(CBC)

Robinson said a giant Nazi flag was hanging in the bedroom.

On Friday, the inspector put on display for reporters the flag, and everything else police allege was inside that apartment. Included was a large mounted machine gun and three assault rifles — one with a silencer. Also on display were weapons that police said had been altered from semi-automatic to fully automatic.

There were also hundreds of rounds of ammunition, landmines and hand grenades, say police.
 
Jong Ca John Lee, 26, of Vancouver has been hit with a slew of charges, including:

• 8 counts of possession of an unregistered firearm.
• 3 counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.
• 10 counts of possession of a restricted weapon.
• 7 counts of possession of prohibited ammunition.
• 1 count of possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Police said they suspect Lee is a firearms broker to a local gang, noting similar assault rifles have been used in gang-related shootings in the city. He is now out on bail.