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A man found in possession of 18 firearms has been jailed for 10-and-a-half years.

Gerald Smith was found guilty of possession of prohibited weapons and ammunition contrary to the Firearms Act 1968. 

Elvadas Chinga, who supplied Smith with the weapons from Lithuania, pleaded guilty to firearms offences and was jailed for seven years.

Officers, working with HM Revenue and Customs, arrested the men following intelligence that guns were coming into London from Lithuania.

Smith, Chinga  and Anthony Magee (who is due for sentencing at a later date) met up at a café in St John's Wood. As they walked away from the café, Chinga took a black and red checked holdall and handed it to Magee.

A short while later, armed officers arrested Smith and Magee and seized the holdall which contained 18 Baikal semi-automatic 9mm pistols, 18 silencers and 748 round of ammunition.

Police later arrested Chinga as he tried to board a ferry at Dover to leave the country.

The guns have been traced back to two firearm conversion factories in Lithuania. These were raided by the Lithuanian police in August 2006 and six people were arrested and 106 Baikals firearms, three machine guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition were seized. 

Detective Inspector Rob Cowland, who led the police operation from the Met's Central Task Force, said:

"This operation has taken a significant seizure of firearms off London's streets and disrupted a criminal network who had no consideration for the devastation their gun hoard could cause.

"This success is a direct result of close and continued joint working with HMRC and the Lithuanian authorities to target those responsible for bringing harm to our communities."