Gun smugglers jailed after undercover sting in Bristol
AN international operation led by police in Bristol prevented three viable firearms and 330 bullets from ending up on the streets of the UK, a court heard.
The three brand-new Taurus handguns were bought in Atlanta, in the US state of Georgia, and hidden in Bluetooth speakers before being posted to addresses in Bristol and Hackney in London.
Bristol Crown Court heard the “sophisticated criminal enterprise” was thwarted when an undercover police officer purchased the weapons and ammunition.
Four men have been jailed for a total of 51 years for their part in the scheme, which would have placed “lethal weapons in the hands of criminals”.
Kenville Hall, Busiso Benjamin, both 30, and Alcot Flemming, 44, all admitted two counts of conspiracy to supply a firearm. Hall was jailed for 17 years and two months, Benjamin for 12 years, and Flemming for 10 years and six months.
Rhafeek Morson, 30, admitted one count of conspiracy to supply a firearm and was jailed for 11 years and five months.
Judge James Patrick told the men: “Gun crime terrifies law-abiding people in this country. There is no reason to have a gun illegally other than to kill, maim, terrorise or intimidate.
“Each of you was prepared to play your part in putting lethal weapons into the hands of criminals.
“Fortunately, they never reached their intended recipients.”
The judge told the defendants that each of the 330 bullets had the capacity to kill or maim a person. He commended the undercover officer, known as Jimmy, who had worked at an industrial estate in Bristol.
“The undercover officer went to considerable lengths and considerable risks,” the judge said.
“He is to be commended for the actions that he took in flushing out this operation and ensuring that these weapons did not fall into the hands of criminals.”
Prosecuting,
Richard
Posner described the operation as a “wellplanned, organised and sophisticated criminal enterprise” and said the defendants had “little to no regard for human life”.
On November 29, 2019, Flemming told Jimmy that two of his relatives, Hall and Benjamin, had two guns for sale that they had managed to import from abroad, Mr Posner said.
He was shown a video of two guns, circulated on an encrypted social media platform, that was used to demonstrate the guns’ quality to “prospective customers”.
Jimmy paid £7,500 for the two guns and ammunition, which had been held up in the post, and took the weapons to a firearms officer, who confirmed they were both viable. The self-loading pistols had been manufactured by Taurus in the US, one in April and the other in October 2019, before being sent to a distributor in Georgia.
Police investigations subsequently revealed that one of the pistols had been delivered to Hall’s home in Bristol in November 2019, while two others arrived at a property in Bristol and were transported to Bristol by Hall.
On December 3, 2019, Jimmy paid £3,500 for a third weapon.
This had also been manufactured by Taurus in the US months earlier.
Police later arrested Hall, Benjamin, Flemming and Morson as well as Nico Lacroix, 23. Lacroix, who admitted a charge of assisting an offender, was later sentenced to four months in prison suspended for two years.
Speaking after the case, Detective Chief Inspector Simon Dewfall said: “This was an organised criminal group working on both sides of the Atlantic to bring illegal firearms into the UK.
“These firearms, which were brand new and unused, would almost certainly have fallen into the hands of those wishing to cause harm to others.”
Mr Dewfall said the defendants showed “absolutely no morality” when arranging for the weapons to be imported to the UK and sold off.
Mr Posner described the case as “complex and challenging” and paid tribute to those involved in bringing the defendants to justice.
“It brings to an end this dangerous criminal behaviour, which was motivated solely by financial gain with no regard for the fear and potential loss of life such weapons can cause in the wrong hands,” he added.
The investigation was supported by Homeland Security Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in the US.