A 40-year-old British-Pakistani man, Yasir Khan, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for attempting to smuggle firearm components into the United Kingdom.
An investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) uncovered that Khan concealed 36 top slides and 36 barrels of 9mm Glock self-loading pistols inside a 1976 Datsun Sunny, which was shipped from Pakistan. The illicit components were hidden beneath the windscreen, behind the engine block, and inside the fuel tank.
Border Force officers, working alongside the NCA, discovered the smuggled weapon parts during an inspection at London Gateway Port on July 7, 2024.
Following this discovery, the NCA launched an investigation, leading to Khan’s arrest on July 12 in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter by the agency’s Armed Operations Unit. Claiming to be a car dealer, Khan later admitted to the charges and was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court.
Investigators retrieved voice notes from Khan’s phone, which revealed his communication with a firearms supplier in Pakistan who had access to weapons manufacturing facilities. In 2023, he was invited to visit the supplier’s factory.
Authorities suspect that Khan was involved in a similar smuggling operation in November 2023. Additional evidence, including voice messages and videos, showed him struggling with ammunition jamming while test-firing assembled firearms. Investigators also found proof that he had purchased deactivated firearms, which he likely modified into functional weapons.
Commenting on the case, NCA Senior Investigating Officer David Phillips stated that preventing illegal firearms from reaching UK streets remains a top priority. He emphasized that the coordinated efforts of the NCA and Border Force successfully stopped a large cache of weapon components from being used by organized crime groups.
