A volunteer fire deputy chief in New Jersey was arrested this week for allegedly buying illegal firearm suppressors designed to muffle the sound of gunshots, county officials said over the weekend.

Matthew Moran serves as the deputy chief of the Carlstadt Fire Department, according to the department's website.

Police arrested Moran on Thursday following an international arms-trafficking investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, according to a release from prosecutors.

Investigators say Moran purchased silencers from an overseas company that were "smuggled" through the mail to his Carlstadt home.

Detectives from the prosecutor's office and Homeland Security officials seized firearms, high capacity magazine, thousands of ammunition rounds and police-issued ballistic vests after a search of his home.

Moran was charged with four counts of prohibited weapons and devices, prosecutors say.

Attorney information for Moran was not immediately available.