A fugitive gun supplier captured when undercover Dutch police stormed his Christmas dinner had attempted to smuggle "assassin kits" into the UK.
Daniel Burdett was sat in a luxury restaurant when specialist officers swooped in front of stunned loved ones and festive diners.
He was today jailed alongside his brother after detectives linked the pair to an international importation plot that saw self-loading pistols driven to England from the Netherlands.
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Some of the guns were individually wrapped with ammunition while others were packaged with silencers, leading a judge to conclude: "This clearly means these weapons were intended to endanger life or cause serious injury by somebody."
The Burdett brothers, both of Railside Court in Vauxhall, were brought down by a National Crime Agency investigation launched after two hauls of guns were intercepted at British ports.
Keith Sutton, prosecuting, said the first, in April 2018, saw six guns - a mixture of pistols, Glock handguns and a revolver - found with ammunition and silencers in a Peugeot car driven into Dover on the back of a low loader.
The following September, 10 individually wrapped Heckler and Kock pistols were found when a trailer was searched after it was driven in an HGV to Killingholme Docks in Humberside.
The intended final destination of each gun haul is unknown, but the weapons were deemed as ready for use on the streets of the UK.
Forensic examination of the packages linked both brothers to the North East haul and Daniel to the Dover cargo.
When the link was made Daniel was already on the run in connection with a cocaine and ketamine conspiracy that was busted in Liverpool in 2014.
The 30-year-old fled to the Netherlands and had been wanted for five years when he was busted in a joint NCA and Dutch police swoop on Christmas Day, 2019.
He was sat with family at a table in a luxury restaurant in The Hague when plain-clothed officers moved in on him. He was extradited 13 weeks later and, after admitting the drugs offences, was convicted at trial of the gun crimes.
Older brother Richard was also arrested in the Netherlands after police stopped him in Amsterdam in July 2019 and asked him to show his identification documents.
The 35-year-old produced a falsely obtained passport in the name of Grant Stone. When it was scanned by officials his fraud was exposed and he was arrested and extradited 78 days later.
Julian Nutter, defending Daniel, said the dad was making "great progress" in prison, where he had trained as a 'listener' to support other inmates.
He said his client was "remorseful for what he had done and of the shame of what he had done to his family".
The barrister also stressed the interception of the guns meant they were not used on British streets, telling Manchester Crown Court: "Whether or not that was more by good luck than management, it remains the case the heaviest sentences have to be reserved for those who do bring in weapons for that evil aim."
Jason Smith, defending Richard, said: "He is an intelligent man. He knows today he will receive a substantial term of imprisonment."
Mr Smith said Richard was the dad of a young child and that "it will be many, many years before he has the opportunity to spend any time with that child and it is obviously something that has had a very profound impact on him".
He added his client had completed a marathon for charity behind bars and hoped that was a sign he was a man who could find "redemption".
Judge Suzanne Goddard, QC, said: "It is logical to infer in relation to both importations that the presence of silencers and compatible ammunition on the first and compatible ammunition on the second that the weapons would be used with an intent to endanger life."
Judge Goddard said the guns appeared to have been imported to either be used by criminal gangs or for the onward sale to gangs.
Daniel Burdett was sentenced to 25 years for possession with intent to supply cocaine and ketamine, and importation of prohibited goods.
Richard was sentenced to 18 years for importation of prohibited goods and fraudulently obtaining a passport.
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