French gendarmes say they have smashed an international arms smuggling ring after arresting 45 suspects in a series of raids across the country on Monday.

Hundreds of weapons, including machine guns, were seized in the operation against what officers described as an "exceptionally large" network of traffickers from Eastern Europe.

French investigators said 45 suspects described as collectors – suspected of links with criminal gangs – were arrested in the Paris area, the regions of the Rhone, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur, on the island of Corsica and in France's overseas territories and departments.

"Several hundred weapons, including weapons of war, ammunition and spare parts, have been trafficked [into French territory] by this network since 2009," the gendarmerie reported in a statement.

It added that the investigations had shown the "flow between arms collectors and crime networks".

The inquiry was sparked after weapons and ammunition were found during a search of the home of a suspect arrested over allegations of receiving stolen goods in February 2012.

More than 300 gendarmes were reportedly involved in Monday's roundup across France. The arms trafficking network was said to have been mostly between Balkan countries and France.

By mid-afternoon on Monday police reported that 38 suspects had been remanded in custody.

"The criminals used the internet and the websites usually visited by collectors to buy long [barrel] guns, pistols and Kalashnikovs," a legal source told France Info radio.