A Birmingham man who converted blank-firing guns into working firearms while still a teenager has been jailed for almost five years.
Zain Hussain, now 19, from Sparkbrook, was sentenced to four years and 11 months following an investigation by the National Crime Agency.
Hussain was just 17 when NCA officers uncovered his firearms operation.
Officers arrested him after watching him enter a wooded area beside the Grand Union Canal in Birmingham and begin digging a hole.
A search of the area led investigators to three working firearms, ammunition and equipment used to manufacture bullets.
The NCA said Hussain had been using the secluded woodland to convert weapons before burying his equipment when it was not in use.
Investigators believe the converted pistols could each have fetched up to £3,000 on the criminal market.
Hussain pleaded guilty to the offences at Birmingham Crown Court and was sentenced on Thursday, 17 September.
The case formed part of an NCA investigation into the conversion of blank-firing weapons into viable firearms capable of being used by criminals.
