Man jailed for using 3D printer to make guns
A GUN supplier who used a 3D printer and ammunition press to make viable weapons from parts ordered on the dark web has been jailed for 27 months.
Haroon Iqbal, 32, from Birmingham, made two orders for parts to be sent from the US.
Iqbal first requested internal parts of a Glock 17 from a seller, ordering it to arrive within a cover load of electronics and using a different identity.
The order was sent but intercepted on its arrival in the UK on January 22 and was found to include the internal parts for the Glock.
Although the items were not illegal on their own, they were forensically marked by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers to ensure they could be identified.
When Iqbal collected them from an address in Birmingham on January 24, NCA investigators were watching, and the parts were recovered when he was arrested the following month.
After dispatching the first order, the US seller was arrested by US Homeland Security agents, and his phone seized.
Messages found on that device would later show that Iqbal had
asked whether the seller had ever had a shipment seized, and requested that a Christmas card was added to the package as a decoy.
Iqbal had also instructed: “Just make sure it doesn’t look suspicious, no glaringly obvious gun parts visible as soon as you open.”
But Iqbal was now unknowingly communicating with undercover US investigators.
On January 26, he requested a Glock 17 barrel and automatic rifle parts. This time he requested the
parts were hidden within a toolbox. He gave information on how to package the second load, saying: “Show the decoy and the parts that u need to put in. We’ll advise how to pack.”
When sent a photo of the shipping label he said: “Bro are you feeling OK? Who’s going to pay 65 to ship a one dollar item? Are you for real – now they’re definitely going to open it!”
Iqbal also provided a UK phone number for the package. US authorities organised for the toolbox without the barrel or rifle parts to be sent to a second address in Birmingham.
Following the delivery on February 28, NCA officers arrested Iqbal.
The phone with the number used on the parcel was found in his car, and officers seized a 3D printer and an ammunition press from his business premises. Officers also found the internal parts first sent to Iqbal which had the forensic markings.
Iqbal pleaded guilty to attempting to possess a firearm at Birmingham Crown Court.