Deadly weapons and firearms seized at UK borders

Tens of thousands of lethal weapons – including ‘death stars’, concealed swords, hidden daggers and smuggled firearms – have been seized by police at the UK’s frontiers, Home Office figures reveal.

Customs officials have been bombarded with people trying to bring in more than 40,000 pieces of deadly armoury between 2010 and 2015, destined for UK streets and the black market.

Police have also seized guns from children as young as nine in north Wales.

The latest figures show everyday items – like belt buckles, key rings and walking sticks – being illegally adapted to conceal knives and swords.

The haul also saw hundreds of more bizarre weaponry confiscated, such as blowpipes, ninja shoe spikes and kyoketsu-shogs – double-bladed ninja weapons attached to a long chain that can be hurled at victims.

The ten types of weapons most seized by UK immigration services in the last five years are: Knuckle duster: 13,718; flick or gravity knives: 6,043; truncheon or baton: 3,826; martial arts weapons: 2,084; disguised knife: 1,254; butterfly knife: 872; death star: 770; and swordsticks: 273.

It comes as the police forces across the UK continue to run weapon amnesty campaigns in the face of a growing concern over the number of stabbings and violent attacks.

Last year, knife crime rose across England and Wales for the first time in four years. Figures showed a 23 per cent increase in stabbings in London in the first 12 months to May 2015 compared to the previous year.

It led to a crackdown by Metropolitan Police Service in July, part of which saw officers seize a significant arsenal of dangerous weapons that managed to get into the UK unnoticed.

But since then a steady stream of many thousands have continued to be confiscated. In a one year period over 2014/15, some 6,735 weapons were seized by customs, compared to the 6,064 taken in 2010/11. In total, from 2010 to November last year some 38,613 weapons were confiscated.

The most common weapon confiscated by customs officials since 2010 – reaching 13,700 – were knuckle dusters. Flick knives were second, at just over 6,000, while truncheons and batons were third, with about 3,800 taken by customs officials.

Meanwhile some 3,000 firearms were seized last year as attempted smuggling of imitation weapons increased.

The number of replicas confiscated went up by five per cent to 419 while real gun finds fell from 283 to 126. Stun weapons and silencers were among 2,301 gun parts or sprays found in bag and car searches.

Police have also seized 56 weapons from children as young as nine in north Wales since 2012, according to new figures.

A total of 1,465 weapons, including hand guns, shotguns, rifles and tear gas, have been confiscated from adults during the same period.

Six rifles were seized from six youngsters in 2015, compared with the individual seizures of 150 shotguns from adults.

North Wales Police released the figures after a Freedom of Information request.

The data is not available from Wales` other forces.

Keith Vaz, the chair of the Commons` Home Affairs Select Committee urged a review of resources set aside for anti-smuggling operations.

He said: “Only one of these firearms is needed for a serious criminal or terrorist incident.”

The Home Office said: “We have intensified checks on people, goods and vehicles entering the UK from the near continent and elsewhere.

“Border Force already works closely with the police and National Crime Agency to prevent the importation of weapons into the UK.”