"The Premier League of arms dealers": West Bromwich man jailed for role in supplying guns to criminal gangs
A Black Country man involved in the importation and distribution of illegal guns to criminal gangs has been jailed for nine years.
Nazim Hussain, of Bromford Lane, West Bromwich, assisted weapons dealer Umair Khan who was found to have bought more than 50 revolvers and over 1,600 rounds of ammunition via the 'dark web' between August 2014 and February this year.
Hussain, aged 47, helped find places to store the items, was responsible for managing deliveries across Birmingham and ensured they were signed for by others before being passed on to Khan on a later date.
At Birmingham Crown Court Hussain was jailed for nine years and Khan for 22 years having been convicted on three and six counts respectively.
The court heard Khan, of Caldwell Road, Bordesley, Birmingham, used the online identity ‘cheeko412’ to buy the explosives, ammunition and stun guns from the dark web, an area of the internet frequently used for criminal activity.
The 22-year-old was caught after ordering a hand grenade and arranging for it to be delivered to an address in Birmingham.
The package was intercepted by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service’s joint Organised Crime Partnership who replaced the contents with a non-explosive substitute before allowing it to be delivered.
When officers searched his home address they recovered four revolvers along with 15 rounds of ammunition.
Investigators established that Khan was also actively buying large quantities of custom-made ammunition from the dark web, to use antique revolvers and weapons he had purchased from legitimate firearms dealers and auction houses across the country.
He arranged for the ammunition to be imported to the UK from an armourer and ammunition manufacturer on the dark web. The ammunition was then concealed within postal parcels and packets sent from Sweden in sophisticated vehicle concealments. Khan then sold the firearms, complete with ammunition, to organised crime groups across the UK.
One weapon was recovered following a West Midlands Police investigation, fully loaded and in the hands of a Class A drug dealer who was stopped in a stolen vehicle.
Sentencing both men at Birmingham Crown Court, HHJ Carr described Khan and Hussain as being in the ’premier league’ of firearms suppliers.
Spencer Barnett, from the Organised Crime Partnership, said: “Khan set himself up as an armourer for organised crime groups and had no thought for where or how the weapons would be used. Although we have been able to link 50 revolvers to him, I believe he is linked to many more and we are looking into his wider criminal activities with support from West Midlands Police and the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU).
"We believe there are a number of illegal weapons in circulate supplied by Khan and Hussain. To avoid facing a criminal conviction and a possible custodial sentence, we would encourage people to contact their local firearms licensing department should they need any further advice, or to arrange surrender of any weapons or ammunition they no longer want or of which they should not be in possession.”
Anyone with information about illegally held firearms can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
