Lithuanian men jailed after smuggling guns to UK in specially adapted car

Two gun smugglers have been jailed after running weapons, silencers and ammunition into the UK from Lithuania.

Aivaras Vysniauskas, 33, and his passenger Gytis Vysniauskas, 46, were stopped by border officials in Dover, Kent, in March 2016.

When officers searched their car, they discovered a purpose built concealed compartment, in which ten Russian-made Baikal handguns, ten silencers and around 100 rounds of 9mm ammunition were hidden.

The men were arrested and questioned by investigators from the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Aivaras Vysniauskas claimed to have been living in Great Yarmouth before returning to Lithuania and said he had bought the car himself.

He said he had built the hidden panel around the vehicle's transmission and had put the firearms, silencers and ammunition in there.

Gytis Vysniauskas denied any knowledge of the weapons, but tests showed that his DNA was on one of the guns.

The guns had been modified to fire 9mm ammunition, the barrels had been threaded to fit a silencer and each gun had its serial number filed off.

Aivaras Vysniauskas admitted importing the firearms when he appeared in court in April 2016, but Gytis Vysniauskas denied involvement.

He was found guilty of importing firearms at Canterbury Crown Court after a trial on 24 October.

On Friday, Aivaras Vysniauskas was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and Gytis Vysniauskas was jailed for 15 years.

Debbie Cook, Dover operations manager for the NCA, said: "Aivaras and Gytis Vysniauskas were gun runners working for a criminal network, and our investigation into the wider network around them continues at home and overseas.

"These lethal weapons were destined for the criminal marketplace where they would have had the potential to do untold damage."