A 20-year-old Miami Gardens man is facing federal charges after agents say they raided his home and found illegally manufactured automatic weapons, including a 3D-printed Glock-style pistol and plastic AR-15-style guns, along with evidence that firearms were being built and test-fired on the property. Lance Ricardo Dwyer was arrested on a charge of unlawful transfer or possession of machine guns following the search, which turned up a homemade gun-making operation investigators say was built to slip past the neighborhood's gunshot detection network.
Undercover Buy Led Agents to 3900 Block
The search warrant was carried out at a home in the 3900 block of Northwest 173rd Terrace after an undercover operative arranged to pick up three homemade guns equipped with conversion devices, according to the Miami Herald. When agents moved in, they say they found those three weapons together in a bag, along with two Springfield firearms and several plastic AR-15-style guns scattered through the residence. Two of the homemade guns reportedly had conversion devices already installed, while a third had been disassembled.
Agents also recovered a plastic Glock-style gun with a conversion device installed, according to the same report. On top of the assembled weapons, investigators say they found one uninstalled conversion device and, separately, four more uninstalled conversion devices elsewhere in the home — devices that under federal law carry the same legal weight as a fully assembled machine gun even when detached from any firearm, per the federal statutory definition found in 26 U.S.C. § 5845(b).
Backyard Rig Aimed at Dodging Gunshot Sensors
Perhaps the most striking discovery, according to the Herald's reporting, was a test-firing apparatus set up in Dwyer's backyard alongside workstations investigators linked to the alleged manufacturing operation. That apparatus was reportedly designed to reduce the likelihood that gunfire would be detected by ShotSpotter technology — the acoustic gunshot detection system that networks outdoor sensors across the county to alert police to gunfire without relying on 911 calls, according to Miami-Dade County.
Investigators say they also located broader evidence of a gun-making facility inside the home, including a kiln, firearm-manufacturing jigs, clay forms, metal shavings, and a tool matching the material composition of the conversion devices. Agents traced shipments of several of the conversion devices to the home from China, the Herald reported — a pattern federal prosecutors elsewhere in 2026 have described as part of a broader trend of overseas vendors shipping conversion parts in commercial parcels to bypass customs inspection, according to the Department of Justice.
Charges Carry Up to 10 Years Per Count
Dwyer remains jailed pending formal charges and is represented by a federal public defender, who did not immediately respond to the Herald's request for comment. He is scheduled to appear before a judge on August 27 to face formal charges.
Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(o) and § 924(a)(2), transferring or possessing an illegal machine gun or conversion device carries a maximum statutory penalty of up to 10 years in federal prison and fines up to $250,000 upon conviction, according to federal law. Federal court records reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice show that people convicted of using 3D printers to manufacture conversion devices or auto sears have routinely received sentences ranging from five to more than seven years in similar cases nationwide. Whether prosecutors will add additional counts — such as illegal importation or manufacturing without a license — remains an open question ahead of Dwyer's court date.
Part of a National Surge in Conversion Devices
The case fits into a documented nationwide spike in these devices. ATF data analyzed by Everytown Research & Policy found that law enforcement recoveries of machine gun conversion devices surged 784 percent between 2019 and 2023, with more than 11,000 conversion parts seized nationally during that stretch. In 2024 alone, 28 U.S. cities reported recovering more than 1,100 Glock switches, while recoveries of 3D-printed firearms jumped nearly 1,000 percent over five years across 20 major urban areas, according to the Everytown Support Fund.
Glock handguns accounted for nearly one in four crime guns recovered nationwide in 2024 — 24.3 percent — a statistic Everytown says helps explain why Glock-style lower receivers and switches have become the dominant target for illicit 3D-printed modifications. Locally, the Office of the Miami-Dade State Attorney expanded its Gun Violence Unit into Miami Gardens in 2019, an initiative that has helped confiscate more than 900 illegal firearms across targeted county districts since 2018.
The Dwyer case is the latest in a string of firearm-related prosecutions to emerge from Miami Gardens in recent months. Hoodline previously reported on a chase into Opa-locka that ended in gunfire, a separate raid that turned up a $1.3 million drug stash, and a federal case involving an Uber rider who opened fire after a gun magazine dropped. Federal agents have not indicated whether any of those cases are connected to the alleged manufacturing operation at Dwyer's home.
