Man found with 3D printing firearms manuals found guilty of terrorism offences

A 32-year-old man has been found guilty of various terrorism offences following an investigation by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, which identified he had collected various instruction manuals of how to create 3D-printed firearms.

Acting Commander Gareth Rees, from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command said: “Mohamed was using a social media app to send himself and store instructions on how to make 3D-printed weapons. He tried to conceal what he was doing by using two anonymous accounts and storing the documents on the encrypted app’s servers, but this didn’t stop us from identifying what he was up to. The circulation of these kind of documents online is extremely harmful and anyone storing, or sharing this type of content can expect to be investigated and prosecuted as Mohamed was here.

“This investigation also came about as a result of a ‘schedule 7’ stop by officers at an airport. It shows just how valuable those powers are in helping us to identify and investigate potential terrorist activity and, ultimately, help keep the public safe.”

The investigation into Abdiwahid Abdulkadir Mohamed 32 (21.10.1991) of Neasden, northwest London, came about after he was stopped and spoken to by counter terrorism officers at Heathrow in September 2022. Mohamed was stopped by officers under ‘schedule 7’ powers at the airport, as he returned to the UK from a trip to Kenya. During the stop, officers questioned Mohamed and also examined the digital devices he had in his possession.

Following the stop, Mohamed was let on his way, but his devices were kept and sent for further examination by specialist digital forensic officers within the Counter Terrorism Command. Analysis of the devices led officers to identify that he was using two particular Telegram accounts.

Within these accounts, detectives identified that Mohamed was a member of various extreme Islamist groups on the platform. Importantly, officers also found a number of documents that appeared to be instructions on how to create and build 3D-printed firearms. They found that he had set up a private channel, which was only accessible by his account, and that he was using the channel to send and then effectively store the documents without being saved directly to any of his own devices.

The files and instructions were reviewed by forensic experts, who found that if followed correctly, could result in the production of viable weapons and firearms.

Mohamed was arrested at his home address in January 2023 and officers seized another mobile phone in his possession. This was also examined and officers found further evidence of his extremist mind-set, and that he had also carried out a search for 3D printers on eBay.

Mohamed was charged on 18 January 2023, with six counts of possessing documents likely to be useful for committing or preparing an act of terrorism (contrary to section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000).

Following a trial at Kingston Crown Court, he was subsequently found guilty on 8 Ocotber of all six counts and is due to be sentenced at the same court on 3 December.