By KUNA,
London : The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) denied Friday that any guns used in crimes in Britain were smuggled by soldiers serving in Afghanistan or Iraq.
The statement came after the BBC reported that British Army weapons were finding their way into the hands of criminal gangs.
A former senior investigator with the Royal Military Police, which conducts searches of troops leaving conflict zones, told BBC domestic radio their efforts did not always prevent firearms being smuggled back to the UK.
He said “This has quite clearly not been highly successful because of a number of weapons that have got through the system and into the hands of criminals, and there is intelligence to suggest that has taken place.” A number of soldiers have been convicted in UK courts of stealing military equipment, including weapons. Among them was Private Christopher Trussler, who was jailed for three years at Chichester Crown Court, southern England, last September after admitting stealing and illegally possessing ammunition he kept after a training exercise.
The court heard the 29-year-old was caught offering to sell 21 rounds of 9mm ammunition to an undercover police officer.
In a statement, the MoD said the theft or illegal importation of any weapon was “unacceptable”.
“We have no evidence to suggest that any guns used in UK crimes were smuggled into the UK by Britains Armed Forces personnel from the operational theatres of Afghanistan and Iraq…. The MoD takes the loss of any service weapon very seriously,” the statement added.