THREE men have been jailed – including a Meriden man – for organised crime involving substances and firearms.
West Midlands police have warned they will ‘take firm action’ against anyone involved in this type of coordinated crime.
The Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson has recently announced a war on the illegal sale or criminal activity associated with weapons, ammunition and drugs and has prioritised the issue after a sharp rise in violent crime.
More than 50 rounds of ammunition were recovered by officers who swooped on the car park of a Wolverhampton pub in March last year and charged three men with conspiring to transfer or sell ammunition.
Rundeep Bagga, 33, of Fillongley Road, Meriden, pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial and David Dixon, 38, of Biart Place, Rugby, had already pleaded guilty to conspiring to transfer or sell ammunition.
They were sentenced to three years and two and a half years in prison respectively at Birmingham Crown Court last Friday (February 23).
The third man, Michael Osbourne, aged 38, of Barnett Close, Wolverhampton, had been on bail for a drugs offence in January last year on the car park of Asda in Small Heath involving two other men.
This exchange was also intercepted by officers which saw four kilos of cocaine recovered, with a street value of £140,000.
He pleaded guilty to conspiring to transfer or sell ammunition and was found guilty of the drugs offence after a trial in July last year. He was jailed for a total of 12 years.
Detective constable Steve Oldbury, of the West Midlands regional organised crime unit, said: “Our operation led to a large quantity of drugs and ammunition never making it onto the streets of the West Midlands where they could have done some real damage.
“This is the latest success in our efforts to combat organised crime and to take deadly weapons off the region’s streets.”
The convictions followed an investigation by officers from the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit (WMROCU).
