UK police seize more than 700 guns in European swoop

LONDON: More than 700 firearms have been seized and 74 people arrested in Britain after a massive European operation targeting blank pistols, the UK´s National Crime Agency said on Sunday.

The arrests and seizures are part of an international investigation launched five years ago involving Spain´s Guardia Civil police force, Europol and authorities in other European countries, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said in a statement.

The operation targeted alarm or blank pistols which can be modified to become lethal weapons.

“Each of these 700 firearms had the potential to fall into the wrong hands and be used by criminals to further their offending or, at worst, take a life,” said Charles Yates, deputy director of the National Crime Agency.

While these blank weapons are authorised in several European countries, it is forbidden to import and possess them in Britain.

“Criminals like the guns because they are cheap, resemble firearms such as Glocks so can be used to intimidate or threaten others, and they can be converted into lethal weapons,” the NCA said.

The majority of the weapons seized were intercepted at Britain´s borders, before they could be used, he added.

The Spanish Guardia Civil police force had identified suspicious purchases of blank-firing weapons by foreigners before tracking them down and intercepting them.There were 11 cases of firearms which were being sent to people with mental health issues and seven cases involving people holding extremist views or who presented a potential terrorism threat. In four cases there were clear indications of onward firearms supply, four other cases involved drugs supply, four cases involved explosives and in one investigation a machine gun was seized from the suspect who had bought a blank firer.

One of the “highest harm” cases featured a man who was jailed for 11 years after officers found 26 firearms at his home, some were even stored in his three-year-old’s bedroom, according to the NCA.

“We have used our reach, influence and relationships overseas, where many serious and organised crime threats come from, to stem the flow of these popular, easily convertible guns and then we and policing have pursued the people who bought them online.”

The scheme – codenamed Project Vizardlike – involved working with international organisations to stop the weapons being shipped to the UK, seizing weapons at the border and identifying those who had already bought them.