Man charged after firearms seized at Dover

A 24-year-old man has been charged with firearms offences after he was stopped at the port of Dover and police seized a number of weapons and ammunition.

Khalid Ahmed (15.08.2001) of Ealing, west London, who is a dual Dutch and Irish national, was charged on Tuesday, 31 March, with ten counts of possession of a prohibited weapon, contrary to section 5 of the Firearms Act, 1968. He was also charged with one count of possession of prohibited ammunition.

He has been remanded in police custody and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, 1 April.

Background to the investigation:

On Thursday, 26 March, the man was stopped and detained under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act, 2000 as he arrived in the UK from France. He was spoken to by Counter Terrorism officers at Dover, and his vehicle was searched. Following this, a number of weapons – later identified as self-loading pistols - were found in the vehicle and the man was subsequently arrested.

Due to the circumstances, the investigation was led by officers from Counter Terrorism Policing London and officers carried out a search in west London.

The man was taken to a London police station and, following his initial arrest, he was further detained under section 41 of the Terrorism Act, 2000. On Saturday, 28 March, a warrant of further detention was obtained from Westminster Magistrates’ Court, meaning he could be held in police custody until Wednesday, 1 April. Following authorisation from the Crown Prosecution Service, he was subsequently charged as above.

Commander Helen Flanagan, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said:

“We appreciate this news may be concerning to the public, but since this arrest took place, we have been carrying out a number of enquiries and to-date, we have not identified any imminent threats to the public relating to this.

“Given the man has been charged, it is important there is no further speculation about the case while criminal proceedings are ongoing. But I can reassure the public that our investigation remains ongoing to ensure that the public is kept safe."