Several handguns and magazines were ordered from the US on an illegal site

Untraceable handguns and ammunition were exported to Cork and Mallow by an American man using the dark net, US federal investigators have said.

Jim Cross, a spokesman for the US Attorney’s Office in Kansas, said that it was an active investigation and he could not comment on garda inquiries in Ireland.

In a plea agreement, Michael Andrew Ryan, from Kansas, admitted to using FedEx to send a Beretta pistol, a Taurus revolver, a magazine and 42 rounds of ammunition to an address in Cork city in August 2013. In the same month he sent two Glock pistols, two Glock magazines and ten rounds of ammunition to an address in Mallow.

Ten days after Ryan sent the guns and ammunition, a 28-year-old man living in Mallow