Surge in grenades being smuggled into Britain

THERE has been a sharp rise in the number of grenades seized from criminals smuggling weapons into Britain.

Between January and April this year 17 of the explosives were taken by authorities, compared with 40 over the four-year period between 2013 and 2017, according to the National Crime Agency.

Chris Farrimond, from the NCA, said there are concerns the weapons could get into terrorist hands. A grenade currently costs between £250 and £750 on the street. They are mainly from the former state of Yugoslavia and in the most recent seizures, in Sussex and Scotland, they were attached to the bottom of vehicles.

In the largest haul, Scottish officers recovered six grenades and 1.5kg of dynamite.

Mr Farrimond said: ‘Firearms do get offered for sale and so then the question is how accessible is that criminal sale area to somebody who wants to create a terrorist offence of some type.’