More than 500 prohibited or dangerous weapons have been seized in a national police operation targeting weapons bought from a European online retailer, police have disclosed.
The National Knife Crime Centre publicly released the results of Operation Obex on 3 September, reporting arrests and charges across England. Police said sales data identified more than 300 people in the UK who had bought weapons from the retailer.
The operation began with intelligence gathered by the National Knife Crime Centre about the European retailer. The retailer stopped selling knives to customers in the UK after police contacted it with assistance from Europol.
Forces then used the available sales information to identify customers for investigation. The national results include activity by the Metropolitan Police, Greater Manchester Police, Avon and Somerset Police, Surrey Police and West Midlands Police.
The Metropolitan Police made nine arrests and recovered 16 weapons. Those investigations resulted in 12 charges, according to the policing update.
Greater Manchester Police made 10 arrests and recovered 85 weapons. Avon and Somerset, Surrey and West Midlands forces also reported arrests, charges and seizures as part of the wider operation.
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Police described the operation as a national response to weapons bought online, with forces examining customer information supplied through the investigation. The figures disclosed by the National Police Chiefs’ Council show the scale of seizures across the participating forces, but do not mean that every person identified in the sales data has been arrested or charged.
Arrests and charges are not findings of guilt. Any cases arising from the operation will be dealt with through the criminal justice process.
The disclosure comes as the National Knife Crime Centre and policing partners continue to target the online supply of dangerous and prohibited weapons. Operation Obex involved the National Knife Crime Centre, the National Police Chiefs’ Council and Europol, alongside forces in England.
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