On a visit to New Zealand, FBI Director Kash Patel gave the country’s police and spy bosses gifts of inoperable pistols that were illegal to possess under local gun laws and had to be destroyed.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — On a visit to New Zealand, FBI Director Kash Patel gave the country’s police and spy bosses gifts of inoperable pistols that were illegal to possess under local gun laws and had to be destroyed, New Zealand law enforcement agencies told The Associated Press.

The plastic 3D-printed replica pistols formed part of display stands Patel presented to at least four senior New Zealand security officials in July. Patel, the most senior Trump administration official to visit the country so far, was in Wellington to open the FBI’s first standalone office in New Zealand.

Pistols are tightly restricted weapons under New Zealand law and possessing one requires an additional permit beyond a regular gun license. Law enforcement agencies didn’t specify whether the officials who met with Patel held such permits, but they couldn’t have legally kept the gifts if they didn’t.

It wasn’t clear what permissions Patel had sought to bring the weapons into the country. A spokesperson for Patel told the AP Tuesday that the FBI would not comment.

US FBI Director Kash Patel visits New Zealand, immediately provides local officials with 3d printed, potentially operable firearms…

… which is a crime, that could carry up to a 3 year prison/jail sentence in NZ…

… and would also potentially be somewhere between a misdemeanor and a felony depending on where you are in the US, as 3d printed firearms are generally without serial numbers and are thus ‘ghost guns’, which are often illegal if unregistered, if not outright banned, though this differs from state to state and city to city.

(Oh also, I guess he is so concerned about properly investigating the death of Charlie Kirk that he is uh, personally looking for leads in New Zealand, or something.)

  • redwattlebird @lemmings.worldEnglish
    4·
    10 hours ago

    Doesn’t the FBI look into issues within USA borders? And doesn’t the CIA look into issues outside these borders? I’m confused as to why an FBI office needs to be in Wellington, especially since NZ is a sovereign country. Unless somehow the NZ government is somehow now a state of the US.

    • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      3·
      10 hours ago

      Uhm… yes. Yeah.

      I am also kind of confused by this.

      The FBI has like… sub offices, attachés to consulates/embassies… but uh… thats for coordinating with local law enforcement and I guess handling US expats.

      Yeah I don’t know what the fuck Patel is doing here, unless he is kind of just publically admitting that all those other FBI sub offices and attachés just routinely handle Five Eyes / Nine Eyes / However many fucking Eyes type shit.

      Which is, I mean, yeah, duh, but also, you’re not supposed to just say that outloud, Patel.

      You’re supposed to be investigating the globalist deep state panopticon world controllers, not fucking building a new branch office for them…

      Oh my god his brain must be the size of a walnut, he isn’t even good at what he is trying to be good at, holy shit.

      • Cassanderer@thelemmy.clubEnglish
        1·
        2 minutes ago

        Part of the reason for being of the five eyes countries is getting around our laws forbidding intelligence agencies from Spying on their own citizens. They have their ally do it and then share it with them.

      • apftwb@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        9 hours ago

        The FBI is who you call when you want to investigate (and prosecute) international gangs/drug cartels (which is why he was there in the first place)

        The CIA is who you call when you want a country’s leader shot with a shard of frozen pufferfish poison.

        • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
          1·
          1 hour ago

          I mean, the CIA has frequently, with documentation, illegally operated on US soil… often by facilitating international gangs and drug cartels…

          But yes, the ice gun with puffer fish poison is also a thing too lol.

          Anyway uh, the article says:

          News of Patel’s visit caused ripples in New Zealand at the time because the opening of the new FBI office in Wellington wasn’t divulged to news outlets or the public until it had already happened. An FBI statement in July said the move aligned New Zealand with FBI missions in other Five Eyes intelligence-sharing nations, which also include the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.

          The office would provide a local mission for FBI staff who have operated with oversight from Canberra, Australia, since 2017, the statement said.

          Where are you getting that Patel was there for intl. drug gang investigation?

          • apftwb@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            26 minutes ago

            Where are you getting that Patel was there for intl. drug gang investigation

            https://www.euronews.com/2025/08/01/fbi-opens-first-office-in-new-zealand-sparking-backlash-in-china

            New Zealand ministers who met Patel, the highest-ranking Trump administration official to visit New Zealand, quietly dismissed his claims.

            A government statement on Thursday emphasised joint efforts against crimes such as online child exploitation and drug smuggling, with no mention of China.

            “When we were talking, we never raised that issue,” Foreign Minister Winston said Thursday.

            Patel said what he said because he is a fucking moron. If Patel lied, he is a moron for creating diplomatic problems for an ally. if Patel didn’t lie, he just brought a whole lot of unnecessary attention to a spy base in NZ.

            • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
              1·
              10 minutes ago

              Ah, ok, I’d only seen the AP article.

              Welp.

              Yeah, yep, Patel is indeed a gigantic fucking bug eyed idiot, that tracks.

      • redwattlebird @lemmings.worldEnglish
        2·
        10 hours ago

        I’m almost inclined to believe that he just wants an excuse to holiday in NZ. Because if it’s for spying… Good grief. Have they bungled it up badly.

        …I mean, OPSEC IS CLEAN!