Birmingham man jailed for smuggling gun parts to the UK
Yasir Khan from Sparkhill will spend 8 years in prison
A Birmingham man will spend 8 years in prison for smuggling gun parts into the UK from Pakistan.
40-year-old Yasir Khan pleaded guilty after a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation proved he was behind the bid to smuggle parts for 9mm Glock self-loading pistols.
The haul of 72 firearm parts was expertly hidden in a vehicle underneath the windscreen, behind the engine block and in the fuel tank.
They were discovered by NCA colleagues from Border Force during a search on July 7th 2024 at London Gateway Port.
At the time, Khan claimed he was a car dealer. He was later arrested by officers on July 12th 2024 in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter.
Evidence was found by the NCA on his phone, which showed he had a contact with a supplier in Pakistan who had access to parts for firearms.
Today (March 7th) Khan of Lea Road in Sparkhill was sentenced after he admitted smuggling firearms.
National Crime Agency Senior Investigating Officer David Phillips said: “Working with our law enforcement partners at home and abroad, preventing illegal firearms from reaching the streets of the UK is a key priority for the NCA.
“The NCA and Border Force have prevented this huge array of component parts from entering the criminal marketplace and being used to produce lethal firearms for organised crime groups," they said.