A woman has been jailed for smuggling machine guns and £500,000 worth of heroin into the UK.
Kasha Sanderson, 40, said she was in France to scatter ashes, but as police searched her Peugeot 3008 SUV, they found 13 guns.
She told Border Force officers in February last year she had come back from Lyon, but her car was outfitted with two custom-built hides in the footwells, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Amongst her arsenal was two Skorpion sub machine guns, an Uzi sub machine gun, and a Glock handgun.
They also found nine converted blank firing pistols and 289 rounds of ammunition.
Sanderson, of Wick, Bristol, told officers she thought she was only smuggling cannabis into England.
However, she would later plead guilty to smuggling firearms, ammunition, and Class A drugs, the NCA said.
The 5 kilogrammes of heroin found in her Irish registered car carries a street value of £500,000, the NCA added..
Kasha Sanderson, 40, who smuggled guns and heroin into the UK in her Peugeot 3008 SUV
|
NCA/PA
An automatic pistol found in the car of Kasha Sanderson
|
NCA/PA
She was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday.
NCA branch commander Rachel Bramley said: “These terrifying weapons and ammunition are out of the hands of extremely dangerous criminals.
“Firearms crime in the UK is among the lowest in the world, but these guns had the potential to cause horrific damage.
“We have seen in recent years the tragic consequences of entirely innocent victims getting caught in the crossfire of criminals with automatic weapons such as Skorpion machine pistols.
Kasha Sanderson’s car had custom in-built hides for smuggling guns and drugs
|
NCA/PA
“With Sanderson’s jailing, the organised crime group behind this smuggling plot have lost a trusted courier and profits they are unable to plough back into further offences.”
The maximum sentence for smuggling firearms into the UK is a life sentence.
There have been several firearm related sentencings in recent months
On February 27, 27-year-old Daniel Pickavance was jailed for stashing a Top-Venting Blank-Firing (TVBF) pistol and over £30,000 cash in his Volkswagen Golf.
PICTURED: Firearm found by Border Officers | NCA/PA
Ammunition seized by the NCA, alongside half a million pounds of heroin
|
NCA/PA
Officers then searched his properties, found 3.3 kilogrammes of cannabis, a further £5,900 cash, and cash counting machine.
He was sentence for five year and four months for the offences, and a further eight months for breaching a suspended sentence he received in October last year.
The NCA added that nearly 3,00 Turkish made TVBFs were surrendered in an amnesty organised by the crime agency.
Possession of just one TVBF could result in a 10-year prison sentence.
