Illegal Guns Seized at Coventry Airport Spark Major NCA Bust
The National Crime Agency (NCA) cracked down after two semi-automatic pistols and hollow-point bullets were intercepted at Coventry Airport on 24 January 2020. Border Force officers uncovered the weapons cleverly hidden inside an electronic safe packed in a box marked as car parts – sent all the way from Orlando, Florida.
Fake Name, Real Danger: How the Smuggling Plot Unravelled
The package was addressed to a ‘John Bob Walton’ in Cambridge. Five days later, a man using that name rang Parcelforce asking about the parcel. NCA investigators traced the call back to 33-year-old Dion Roberts from Coventry.
Roberts and his accomplice Keston Joseph, also 33, were stopped on 31 January while driving on King William Street, Coventry. Both were arrested—Joseph was later released under investigation, but Roberts was kept in custody and his phone seized.
Secret Chats Expose International Gun Smuggling Ring
Phone analysis revealed Roberts had organised the imports with a Florida-based contact known as ‘Shotta’. The pair had already successfully shipped a pistol two weeks earlier, using the same trickery of hiding the weapon in car part packages.
Roberts told Shotta, “We make a lot of money bro. We make a lot of paper, a lotta lotta of paper there to be made.”
Roberts insisted on sending five rounds of ammo with each gun despite warnings about the smell giving them away, confident the carbon paper insulation inside the safe would mask it.
Conspiracy Busted: Guns Found, Guilt Proven
Roberts and Joseph collected their first shipment on 11 January. A photo from Joseph’s phone showed him holding the gun that morning. Both men were caught actively looking for buyers while planning the second shipment.
The duo recruited a third man, Dashan Caines, 46, from Birmingham, to join their conspiracy. The trio often met and even travelled together to hide the firearms.
On 5 March 2020, NCA armed officers arrested Caines and Joseph. Two months later, police recovered the hidden safe near Roberts’ home with the gun inside — DNA evidence linked Caines directly to the weapon.
Court Verdict and NCA Warning
At Birmingham Crown Court today, Caines and Joseph were convicted of conspiring to acquire and sell illegal guns and ammunition after a five-week trial. Roberts had already pleaded guilty.
Sentencing will be announced soon.
“These men planned to build a business on selling illegal weapons to other criminals. They saw this only as a money-making scheme, paying no consideration to the danger firearms pose to the public,” said NCA Branch Commander Mick Pope.
“Criminals who own firearms – often linked to drug trafficking – use them to spread fear, commit violence, and sometimes kill.”
“Our success sends a strong message: we will keep working with partners like Border Force to stop illegal guns entering the UK.”
