Watch police officer armed with machine gun bust weapons factory gang

2023-04-20

Watch hair-raising moment police officer armed with massive machine gun busts weapons factory gang who have now been jailed for total of 79 years

The organised crime group converted blank-firing guns into live firearms
Flooded streets with guns converted at weapons factory hidden inside garage

The moment a police officer busts a weapons factory gang while armed with a massive gun has been released after the members of the group were jailed for a combined total of 79 years on Tuesday.

Video shows an armed officer running out of a police vehicle and pointing the weapon at two cars with multiple occupants inside, before finding weapons during a search of the vehicles.

The organised crime group, who flooded Britain’s streets with deadly guns converted at a weapons factory hidden inside a garage, would turn blank-firing guns into live firearms.

Eight members were sentenced for firearms offences after the discovery of the large-scale criminal plot, which centred around weapon conversions taking place at the home of Andrew Wheelhouse, 41, from Mansfield Woodhouse in Nottinghamshire.

The video of the dramatic arrests, which was taken on April 22, 2021, showed armed police swooping in on two Audis in Bilborough, Nottinghamshire, before finding a case containing a gun, magazine and live rounds.

Officers can be heard shouting: ‘Police! Show me your hands’ as they rush to surround the vehicles.

They are then shown instructing the men to exit the vehicle, before further bodycam footage reveals officers searching one of the cars.

The four occupants of the vehicles, Mitch Butterworth, 30, Amraiz Mahmood, 29, Matthew Galloway, 29 and Tyrone Thomas, 29, were all arrested at the scene.

The field operation came a day after officers stopped and arrested 37-year-old Darren James in Netherfield, Nottinghamshire, when they recovered a revolver-type antique firearm, component parts and other items of interest from the BMW he was driving.

Two converted short-barrelled guns and ammunition, another gun, a loaded magazine, and a silencer were then seized from another address in Bilborough.

Wheelhouse was subsequently arrested during a raid of his property on July 6, 2021.

He changed replica pistols into viable firearms at his property before selling them on to gangsters on the black market.

Officers found 15 blank firearms, 40 blank cartridges and an adapted lathe and drill press which could be used to convert firearms.

The organised crime group, who flooded Britain’s streets with deadly guns converted at a weapons factory hidden inside a garage, would turn blank-firing guns into live firearms. Pictured: The mugshots of the group

Police also arrested the final two members of the gang 28-year-old Leutrim Krasniqi and 25-year-old Ergys Zekaj, who had received converted firearms.

Butterworth, Mahmood and Galloway were all caught moving weapons from another address to be sold on.

Brothers Reuben Thomas, 34, and Tyrone Thomas, as well as Umar Alam, 29, were responsible for storing, moving and and supplying the firearms.

The gang were convicted of various firearms offences following a seven week trial at Nottingham Crown Court and sentenced on Tuesday.

Butterworth, of Bilborough, was found guilty of conspiring to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited weapon for sale or transfer and was jailed for 12 years and four months.

Wheelhouse was found guilty of conspiring to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life and of conspiring to possess a prohibited weapon for sale or transfer. He was sentenced to 11 years.

Amraiz Mahmood, of Carlton, Nottinghamshire, was found guilty of possessing a prohibited weapon for sale or transfer and was handed a sentence of six years and eight months.

It came a day after officers stopped and arrested 37-year-old Darren James in Netherfield, Nottinghamshire, when they recovered a revolver-type antique firearm, component parts and other items of interest from the BMW he was driving

The gang were convicted of various firearms offences following a seven week trial at Nottingham Crown Court and sentenced on Tuesday

Matthew Galloway, Reuben Thomas, Tyrone Thomas, Leutrim Krasniqi and Ergys Zekaj, previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Galloway, of Arnold, was jailed for 11 years. Tyrone Thomas, of Bakersfield was given eight years and three months.

Reuben Thomas, of Sneinton, was sentenced to seven years and six months.

Zekaj, of London, was given a sentence of six years and 11 months.

Krasniqi, of Cricklewood, north London, received a six-year sentence.

Umar Alam, of Carlton, admitted a charge of possessing a prohibited weapon for sale or transfer and was sentenced to seven years.

Darren James, of Netherfield, pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm and was locked up for two years and three months.

Detective Inspector Mark Adas, of the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, said: ‘This gang had an entire production line going, from sourcing and converting these blank-firing guns into viable deadly weapons, to selling them on to those who intended to use them.

‘Rife with risk of harm throughout the process, it was imperative that we closed down the whole deadly operation.

‘Through our extensive investigation we were able to identify the manufacture, storage, onward movement and supply of these firearms and ammunition across Nottingham and into London.

‘This was clearly a resourceful and organised group whose criminal activities posed a serious threat, so I’m pleased our proactive work and detailed investigation has now resulted in significant prison sentences.

‘I hope these sentences and our thorough work in this case sends a very clear warning to other criminals about the potential consequences of acquiring and trafficking firearms and endangering the public.’

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