A man has been sentenced to five years in prison after a cache of weapons, including pistols, a bow and arrow, machete and knuckle-duster, was found hidden in his van.
Jaromir Hrbek, 59, was stopped last month as he drove through the port of Dover in his Peugeot Expert.
A magazine of ammunition was discovered in the driver’s door compartment, but Hrbek, who said he had been to visit his daughter in Edinburgh, denied there was anything else in the vehicle.
He told the officers that he had a gun for which he held a licence, but it was at his home in the Czech Republic. However, on searching the van, officers discovered a loaded 9mm Walther PPK in the back of the passenger seat.
Hrbek told the officials his lifestyle was “a bit chaotic” because he was getting divorced and he had forgotten that he placed the gun there. He was arrested and cautioned.
The officers continued their search, uncovering a bow with arrows, five knives, including a 12-inch blade, a machete, a knuckle-duster, and a loaded Walther PPQ pistol wrapped in a paper bag, then hidden in the vehicle’s frame.
They also found more ammunition, including 50 9mm Luger cartridges and 50 .22 cartridges. The National Crime Agency, which led the investigation, described the haul as a “veritable arsenal”.
Hrbek remained silent in an interview, but was jailed at Canterbury crown court on Tuesday after admitting possession of a firearm and offensive weapons.
On Wednesday, Richard Bowen, the NCA senior investigating officer, said the British public faced a significant threat from firearms-related crime.
“Hrbek’s Peugeot van was a veritable arsenal,” he said. “This National Crime Agency investigation has taken all those weapons out of circulation and I applaud the Border Force officers who stopped the vehicle and questioned Hrbek.”
Last year, police seized more than 800 potentially lethal weapons during a month-long operation designed to prevent terrorists and criminals from gaining access to illegal firearms, amid fears of a Paris-style gun attack on the streets of Britain.
The haul included a fully loaded AK-47, one of 11 assault rifles seized, a Skorpion submachine gun, two machine guns and 4,385 rounds of ammunition.
