29-year-old Umair Khan from Birmingham made purchases of firearms, including more than 50 revolvers, using the dark web, and was caught in February by police after ordering a hand grenade.<\/p>\n
He was jailed for 22 years.<\/p>\n
Khan had previously admitted firearms offences at the city’s crown court.<\/p>\n
A second man, 27-year-old Nazim Hussain of West Bromwich, was jailed for nine years for helping to manage deliveries and store weapons.<\/p>\n
Hussain had previously admitted the importation of ammunition, the importation of prohibited ammunition and the importation of two stun guns.<\/p>\n
The men were both sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday.<\/p>\n
Khan, from Bordesley Green, admitted selling firearms and ammunition, importation of ammunition and prohibited ammunition and importing prohibited weapons between August 2014 and February of this year.<\/p>\n
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said he was arrested on 20 February after ordering the grenade and arranging for it to be delivered to an address in Birmingham.<\/p>\n
NCA officers and Metropolitan police intercepted the package, replacing the contents with a non-explosive substitute before allowing it to be delivered.<\/p>\n
Four revolvers and 15 rounds of ammunition were found when officers subsequently searched Khan\u2019s home.<\/p>\n
\u201cKhan was an illegal firearms trader of most significant standing,\u201d said prosecutor Jonathan Cox.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe personally ran an extremely well established commercial enterprise which sold around 50 fully functioning prohibited firearms, in particular pistols and over 1,500 rounds of compatible ammunition.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would have been responsible for arming a substantial number of serious criminals in the Birmingham area.\u201d<\/p>\n
Khan had his parcels imported into the UK and hidden within postal parcels and packets from Sweden, where had he formed a relationship with a manufacturer. He then sold the firearms and ammunition to organised crime groups across the UK, the NCA said \u2013 including two 16-year-old boys.<\/p>\n
Mr Cox said Khan\u2019s first purchase was made was in May 2014 when he bought a Smith and Wesson .38 calibre pistol on line.<\/p>\n
He used bitcoin to make the purchases, buying \u00a38,500 worth in one year.<\/p>\n
Judge Peter Carr said Khan had spent over \u00a350,000 in buying guns and that the grenade was addressed to the home of a mother-of-two with the dangers \u201call too apparent.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThese activities over prolonged period of time place you in the premier league of weapons suppliers.\u201d<\/p>\n