Swiss precision work
Name: Brügger & Thomet

Current: When the news came out at the end of last November that Ricardo RV had been arrested in Chile, it caused some commotion among the crime news. The Chilean criminal, nicknamed 'Rico' or 'Bonzo', had been mentioned for some time as someone who would play a major role in the Mocro Mafia. But there was no evidence for this.

Now that 'Rico' is being held in a Dutch cell, the Public Prosecution Service is releasing a little more information about the criminal. For example, he appears in an investigation into a series of money finds from two other Chileans in Amsterdam and Badhoevedorp last July. The police found large amounts of money, thousands of euros worth of 500 notes, for example. But the most sensational was the presence of a submachine gun at one of the addresses investigated. A Brügger & Thomet MP9.


History: The Swiss Brügger & Thomet has been around since the 1920s, but made a new start at the end of the twentieth century. The weapons that this company manufactures are almost all intended for the military market. Think of grenade launchers, snipers and hand pistols. The brand also produces pistols for veterinarians and hunters on a modest scale.

Most commonly used type: The MP9 found by Rico's accomplices has been manufactured in Switzerland since 2004. It is used by the air force in the Netherlands. For example, Dutch F16 pilots carried this weapon on missions in Iraq. Another organization that uses an MP9 is the FSB in Russia, the secret intelligence service.