‘We’ll deliver AK-47s to your door’
ASSAULT rifles are being smuggled into the UK hidden inside power tools and computers, the Daily Star Sunday can reveal.
Gun dealers are buying parts for
AK-47s and other weapons on the dark web and assembling them in secret lock-ups.
We launched an investigation after the FBI-style National Crime Agency warned of guns reaching the UK via secretive online markets.
Our undercover reporters found black market websites selling military firearms to villains.
Many came with instructions on how to assemble guns favoured by lone wolf terrorists and gangs.
We were shown “live” encrypted markets selling a range of weapons including machine guns, sniper rifles, hand guns and pistols.
One Russian-based dealer – who we are not naming – offers submachine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, pistols and ammunition.
Buyers are told to pay 30% of the cost up front for “half of the weapon”. On delivery they are then asked to pay the remaining 70% for the other half plus ammunition.
Under the “assault rifles” section are six modified AK-47s costing from £1,400 to £2,000. Two PK machine guns for
£1,700 and a range of pistols are also on offer.
Pledging to deliver goods worldwide, the seller says: “It is not important where you are. We guarantee a successful delivery of the goods. There is no danger ordering goods on our site. We use the most modern methods of masking and guarantee your order will pass through any border.”
Another black market guns site listed parts for a Zastava NPAP M70 AK-47 for £380 plus shipping.
The trader gives an email address and asks for messages to be encrypted using a code. He adds: “All our guns are brand new and 100% gun oil free so they clear customs without issue. Hand guns are taken apart and shipped inside power tools.
“Rifles or larger items are taken apart and shipped inside computer cases. Due to the openness of this website, we cannot disclose examples of the packaging.”
When our man emailed the seller to ask how they are packaged he told us: “We take the tool apart, mill out space for the firearm component and seal it back up. If done carefully, the item can even continue to operate.
“We’ve used drills, saws, other power tools, tanks, engines, computers, furniture and even some items costing well over several thousand dollars.
“The key is to find an item that has a similar density to the metal to skew the X-ray taken in customs.”
Another website offered guns and a block of the explosive Semtex for £266. A yearly assessment of serious organised crime in Britain has found that firearm offences have increased by almost a third.
At the same time, the NCA warned a surge in the number of parcels arriving in the UK is being exploited by gangs who are “concealing illicit goods amongst legitimate traffic”.
Last year police in the UK seized more than 800 potentially lethal weapons during a month-long operation designed to prevent terrorists and criminals gaining access to illegal firearms.