By James Simons-
A man has been sentenced to more than six years in jail for importing four guns from the US into the UK.
Darnell Matthews, 23 of Harrow Road, Wembley, pleaded guilty to the importation of four firearms and one count of possession of a knife. He was sentenced to six years and three months in jail at Harrow Crown Court on Tuesday, 18 October.
On Friday, 13 May officers were alerted to a package at an address connected to Matthews. When opened, the package was found to contain a Ruger handgun loaded with five bullets.
Officers from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command attended and made the weapon safe.
A joint operation was launched in partnership with Border Force and further firearms were intercepted and recovered, including a Glock handgun loaded with 11 bullets and a loaded Sig-Sauer pistol, all linked to Matthews.
On Monday 27 June, during a planned operation, Matthews was arrested; when detained by officers he was searched and found to be in possession of a lock knife. He was charged and remanded into custody.
During their ongoing investigation, police found transactions made by Matthews which proved he had paid for the firearms, leaving him with little option but to admit his guilt.
Detective Constable George Gorman, who led the investigation, said: “Matthews was intent on bringing incredibly dangerous weapons into our country, weapons which no doubt would have ended up in the hand of criminals and caused violence on our streets.
“We are working tirelessly to identify and target those who cause this kind of harm in society and are doing everything in our power to make the streets a hostile place for those transporting firearms.
“We can reduce gun crime far quicker if people provide us with information about where firearms are being stored and who they are being used by. If you do not want to report to us, you can contact Crimestoppers which is 100 per cent anonymous and independent of police.”