A woman has been jailed for nine years for smuggling military weapons, ammunition and heroin into the UK.
Kasha Sanderson, 40, was stopped at Dover’s East Pier in February last year.
Border agents found 13 firearms, nearly 300 rounds of ammunition and 5 kilograms of heroin in her car.
Rachel Bramley, branch commander at the National Crime Agency, said: “The UK has some of the lowest gun crime rates in the world, but these guns have the potential to cause horrific damage.”
She added: “None of these horrific weapons and ammunition are in the hands of extremely dangerous criminals.”
On February 24 last year, he was intercepted after taking a ferry from Calais to Sanderson, Nishcombe Hill and Wick in Bristol in an Irish-registered Peugeot 3008.
When asked what she had been doing abroad, she told officials she had been spreading her ashes in Lyon, France.
She was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday.
A total of 13 concealed firearms were seized [NCA]
Border Force officers searched the vehicle and found two custom-made pieces of leather in the footwell, the NCA said.
There were 13 weapons inside, including two Scorpion submachine guns, an Uzi submachine gun, a Glock pistol and nine modified blank-loading pistols.
Police also seized 289 rounds of ammunition and 5kg of heroin, which investigators said had an estimated street value of around £500,000.
Sanderson, who was unemployed, was arrested. In an interview, she claimed she believed she had been smuggling marijuana.
She later admitted importing firearms, ammunition and Class A drugs and was sentenced on Thursday.
The weapon was located in a concealed compartment in the footwell of the vehicle. [NCA]
Bramley said: “In recent years we have seen the tragic consequences of completely innocent victims being caught in the crossfire of criminals using automatic weapons such as Scorpion submachine guns.
“With Sanderson behind bars, the organized crime gang behind this smuggling conspiracy has lost a trusted courier and profits they can no longer invest in further criminal activity.”
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