VILNIUS - A British court has sentenced three Lithuanian citizens to long prison terms for arms smuggling.
According to the Web site of the Yorkshire Post Today newspaper, Judge Stephen Robbins of London's Southwark Crown Court jailed the three "merchants of death" for a total of 32 years.
Darius Stankunas, a 34-year-old resident of Sheffield, was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment. He admitted two separate counts of conspiracy to possess prohibited weapons and ammunition, and a further count of possessing amphetamines with intent to supply.
Orestas Bubliauskas, also 34, Essex, was jailed for a total of 11 years for possessing firearms and ammunition.
Andrius Gurskas, 26, of no fixed address, had admitted possession of firearms and was found guilty on both conspiracy counts as well as a charge of importing firearms. He was also jailed for a total of 11 years.
The judge expressed regret that the punishments for trade in lethal weapons in the country were milder than those for drug dealing.
The three Lithuanian nationals were detained by armed officers following a surveillance operation last May after Gurskas brought converted tear gas weapons into Great Britain. There were also 300 rounds of ammunition matching the weapons and a silencer which fitted perfectly to each of the guns.
"It is perhaps remarkable to note that for these undoubtedly serious offences, which involved bringing firearms, silencers and ammunition into this country - bearing in mind the gun culture that pervades and persists in this country - that the maximum sentences are no more than 10 years, particularly when you compare that with maximum sentences for drugs where it is 14 years," the judge said.
Bubliauskas had also been jailed for 10 years in Lithuania for a sexual offence.
