Five men who smuggled sub-machine guns into the UK have been jailed for a total of 85 years.
The gang imported weapons into the country before they were stashed at homes in Watford, St Albans, and Sheffield, before being distributed among gangs on the streets of London.
The Met Police carried out a 15 month investigation into the men uncovering an international gun smuggling ring between Germany and the UK.
Evgeni Tanev, 65, and Ljudmil Ognjanov, 45, both of Hamburg, Germany were identified as the ringleaders while Sharriff Dacres, 23, of Cotterells, Hemel Hempstead, Ross Elliot, 31, of Tweedy Road, Bromley, and Olatomiwa Sholanke, 31 of Castleton Close, Croydon, would deliver the guns into London.
When police officers raided addresses in Watford, St Albans, and Sheffield, they seized 25 firearms in total including four sub-machine guns, as well as 4,000 rounds of ammunition.
The gang went to extreme lengths to hide weapons but when a car entering the UK was stopped by officers in 2016, a specialist search found six handguns, two sub-machine guns, and 1,000 rounds of ammunition hidden inside the front axel of the car.
The gang tried to hide guns and ammuntion inside the axel of the car
Detectives believe the defendants played a key part in a wider organised criminal network responsible for smuggling guns into the UK.
The gang were sentenced at Kingston Crown Court yesterday.
Elliot and Dacres were convicted of conspiracy to sell or transfer firearms and ammunition in April following a nine-week trial. Elliot has received an 18 month sentence while Dacres will serve 14 months inside.
Sholanke, Ognjanov, and Tanev were all charged with conspiracy to sell or transfer firearms and ammunition. Sholanke was convicted following a nine-week trial which ended in April and will spend ten years in jail.
Elliot, Dacres, and Sholanke had all pleaded not guilty.
Ognjanov and Tanev did plead guilty to the charges they faced. Ognjanov was jailed for 21 years and seven months while the latter will serve 22 years and four months in jail.
Police seized ammuntion
All the offences took place between January 2016 and March 2017.
Kiril Kirilov, 44, and Dimitar Tsekov, 37, both of Sofia, Bulgaria were acquitted on Wednesday, 4 April of conspiracy to import firearms and ammunition.
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