Looks like “gun-free” England isn’t so gun-free after all. Criminals still manage to do this:
A teenager, who bought a lethal machine gun and 187 rounds of ammunition and had them imported from the US disguised as ornamental owls, has been locked up.
Reza Khalilzada, a Dutch national, ordered the UZI machine gun from the United States but was caught when his parcel was intercepted by customs officials on August 8 last year.
The package’s label stated that it contained a ceramic dish and an ornament featuring three ceramic owls sitting on a log but x-rays revealed that in fact it held the lethal IWI .22 calibre UZI machine gun and 187 rounds of ammunition.
Following the discovery, US Homeland Security notified Metropolitan Police and officers from the Met’s Central Task Force carried out a search of his address – where he lived with his parents and three siblings.
During the raid of the family home in Pinner, Middlesex, on August 14 last year, officers uncovered the barrel of an AK-47 rifle under his mattress – which is also believed to have been imported from the US.
When detectives questioned Khalilzada about the machine gun, he told police he had responded to a website advert offering money to provide a ‘drop-off address’ for an unknown package, because he was not doing well at college and wanted a job.
During the search of his bedroom, officers also found a rucksack containing nunchucks, CS gas, a lock knife, lighter fluid, aerosol cans, a lighter, a catapault and ball bearings, a scarf and bandana, balaclavas, gloves, field dressing for wounds and bandage tape, amphetamines, ecstasy and four CDs containing images and videos of Khalilzada’s family.
Detectives also seized ear defenders, three computers and a number of USB memory sticks, £600 in cash and several bank cards.
Khalilzada, 18, was charged with firearms offences on August 15 last year. However, the next day his parents reported that another package – also from the US – had been delivered for him.
It contained various parts of an assault rifle which, when combined with the AK-47 rifle barrel found under the mattress, created a fully functional, automatic assault rifle with the potential to kill. The ammunition seized at the US border also fitted this rifle.
Examinations of Khalilzada’s computer showed it was heavily encrypted but the teenager failed to supply a password police with a password, which he claims he has forgotten.
He admitted two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon (AK-74 barrel and CS gas), and two counts of possession of a controlled drug (MDMA and amphetamine) and was found guilty of another weapons charge and customs charges at Isleworth Crown Court. He was sentenced to six years behind bars.
Detective Inspector Rob Murray, of the Met’s Central Task Force, said: ‘Khalilzada’s arsenal contained everything one person would need to potentially kill and seriously injure a lot of people.
‘With the assistance of our partners in the United States, we’ve taken these weapons off the streets and out of criminal hands, where they could have potentially resulted in very serious consequences.
‘I hope this case and the sentence acts as a deterrent to anyone thinking of being involved in the illegal purchase or distribution of firearms and ammunition.’
Matthew Etre, of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations Attaché in London, said: ‘This case is an example of Homeland Security Investigations’ commitment to investigate and help disrupt the flow of weapons and sensitive technologies illegally exported from the United States.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2584156/London-teenager-locked-importing-Uzi-machine-gun-arsenal-weapons-US-disguised-ornamental-OWLS.html#ixzz2wOq2T2Ve
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What a joke, these Brits think that what they did actually makes a difference? What about all those other smuggled guns they didn’t catch? Britain remains indeed the best country for criminals. Even the sentences are a joke, 6-years? He’ll probably be out of in 3.
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Gregory Smith
So much wrong…
The guy didn’t exactly sucessfully smuggle the “Uzi”, since it wa intercepted by US Homeland Security before reaching the UK.
That .22 caliber “Uzi” “lethal machine gun” is actually the semi-auto — NOT machine gun — Walther replica sold by Umarex.
The “AK-47″ ammunition was also intercepted in the US.
The AK barrel is alterrnately described as a -47 and a -74, so I’m pretty doubtful of the full-auto claim on this one, too.
The article isn’t mine, it’s from Daily Mail, and while you’re right about everything, the Uzi was smuggled, it went from America to England. If John Doe ships 100 tons of cocaine and it gets caught by the Coast Guard, he can’t say “I didn’t smuggle it.”
Either way, my point at the end of the article stands. The British cops have nothing to celebrate, they caught one gun smuggler, what about the others they haven’t caught? Just like the war on drugs only stops a tiny bit of drugs, the war on guns does the same.
I know it isn’t your article. I’m pointing out the trouble with trying to discern the truth from crappy “news services”. I merely said the pistol smuggling was unsuccessful; not that it didn’t happen (and it apparently was stopped in the US… at least according to the notably inept Daily Mail). One reason it pays to take UK news reports with a 50 pound grain of salt is that they’ve also reported gun-shaped cigarette lighters as actual firearms.
Wait. Let me back up. I realized that I’m making an unspoken assumption that others might not.
I am concerned about the accuracy of such reports because victim disarming idiots on both sides of the pond use these articles to claim that “lax” US laws are allowing the flow of nasty ol’ machine guns to peaceful places like the UK (or, if you prefer, Mexico a la Fast & Furious “Project Gunwalker”), “necessitating” more restrictive laws (or even UN intervention through silliness like the small arms trade treaty).
When discussing this with the merely ignorant gungrabber, as opposed to the agenda-driven slaver, it can be worthwhile to note that 1) machines ARE heavily regulated, 2) this WASN’T a machine gun, and 3) US authorities DID successfully intercept it, keeping it out of some UK criminal’s hands.
You’re absolutely right, and even though I am a fan of Daily Mail because they attack Obama in a way no other American publication does, I do admit they have an anti-gun bias like most British publications. Anyway, thanks for visiting my blog.
Thanks for writing it. [grin]