British troops sell guns and drugs to crime gangs, says former soldier

Aug 2 2009 By Nick McCarthy

BRITISH troops are smuggling guns and drugs into the UK and Europe and selling them on to criminal gangs, it was claimed last night.

The shocking arms trade was revealed by a former Midland soldier who said it was “mega-easy” to bring back weapons from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The ex-squaddie claimed servicemen smugglers had become adept at hiding weapons and shipping them back from the frontline.

Handguns are regularly brought back inside field radios and tool boxes – while grenades are hidden inside tank gun barrels for collection on arrival in Britain or Europe.

The crooked soldiers also conceal weapons in the fuel tanks of armoured vehicles and inside wheels to avoid detection.

“A lot of weapons get back to the UK, but some end up in military bases in countries like Germany and are then sold to European criminal gangs,’’ said the former Midland serviceman.

“It’s mega-easy to smuggle them back. The military will say that this is isolated, or that the systems in place are 100 per cent safe – but that isn’t the case.

“Smuggling goes on a lot because it would take days to search everything and the military simply don’t have the time or manpower to do it.

“It’s the system that’s wrong – just like MPs’ expenses. If the system can be abused it will be abused and this will carry on if things are not tightened up.’’

He told how many of the smuggled arms were offered for sale by crooked Iraqi cops.

“In Iraq the police officers just come up to British soldiers in the street and ask if they want to buy their guns,’’ he said.

“You could pick up guns for between $20 and $100 from them, then sell them on to European gangs or back here in Britain for anything between £500 and £1,000.

“It‘s all about who you know. Buying is easy but you need to know people who know people so you can sell them on.

‘‘They usually go to drug dealers who want something if anybody comes knocking.

“Ammunition is also worth a hell of lot of money because it is hard to get.’’

Drugs are also regularly smuggled back, he added.

‘‘Lots of the lads bring back drugs like cocaine, amphetamines and fake Viagra,’’ he said.

“You can buy 60 Viagra tablets for $60 over there, then can sell them for £5 each here.

“You could pay £15 for a gram of cocaine, but you can sell it for £50 a gram.’’

Once the soldiers have bought contraband, the smuggling operations begin.

The former squaddie said: “There are a few ways that the weapons and drugs are smuggled.