West Yorkshire man jailed after flying to US and trying to post guns home
Border security agents intercepted several packages containing handguns and bullets
A West Yorkshire man has been jailed after flying to America and trying to send a guns back through the post.
34 year old Wade Priestley, formerly of Craig Hopson Avenue in Castleford, has been handed a 9 year ten month sentence after several packages were intercepted by border security.
He'd travelled to Los Angeles on November 1 last year and was later caught on CCTV sending parcels from a US postal facility.
A total of five parcels were intercepted, which addressed to homes in Halifax and Bradford.
Inside were two handguns, parts to build a further two handguns and a package containing 20 bullets.
All were labelled as bike or car parts.
Priestly was arrested in February and later admitted conspiracy to acquire possession of dutiable goods with fraudulent intent.
Detective Chief Inspector Al Burns, of the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit, said:
“Our investigation team quickly identified Wade Priestley as the man behind this conspiracy and our extensive investigations showed that he played a key role in both the sending of the parcels and how they would have been received.
“I have no doubt these firearms would have ended up in the hands of serious organised criminals where they would have posed a real danger to our communities had they not been intercepted.”
“Our officers worked closely with agencies on both sides of the Atlantic during the course of this investigation and I am pleased that the diligence and cooperation of all involved has ensured these potentially lethal weapons could not be put to use on our streets.”