Dangerous criminals are stockpiling arsenals of weapons and offering to surrender them as part of deals to reduce their jail sentences
- Middle Eastern gangster, Alen Moradian, negotiated a lesser sentence for guns
- Police recovered his 29 guns in Bankstown, south-western Sydney last Thursday
- For the handover of weapons, he's given a 5 per cent reduction on his sentence
- This deal is allegedly one of a dozen similar deals done over the past 18 months
Dangerous criminals have been caught stockpiling an arsenal of weapons and surrendering them to police to make secret deals to lessen their jail sentences.
Police recovered 29 guns in a deserted car in Bankstown, southwestern Sydney last Thursday.
The weapons recovered included shotguns, assault rifles, handguns, machine pistols and silencers, all of which have a large asking price on the black market.
All of the weapons were given up to police by one Middle Eastern gangster, Alen Moradian, who negotiated their surrender in a deal to lessen his minimum 10-year prison sentence for importing cocaine.
Police recovered 29 guns in a deserted car in Bankstown, south-western Sydney last Thursday. The weapons recovered included shotguns, assault rifles, handguns, machine pistols and silencers, all of which have a large asking price on the black market
All of the weapons were given up to police by one Middle Eastern gangster, Alen Moradian, who negotiated their surrender in a deal to lessen his minimum 10-year prison sentence for importing cocaine
Share this article
The deal negotiated by Moradian is one of nearly a dozen similar deals conducted over the past 18 months, The Sunday Telegraph reports.
Moradian surrendered the cache of weaponry and only received a five per cent discount on his sentence.
Another man, Craig Phelps, received a 10 per cent discount to his sentence after surrendering four weapons.
A drug cook received a 15 per cent discount after supplying police with military-assault rifles and explosives.
The deal negotiated by Moradian is one of nearly a dozen similar deals conducted over the past 18 months, The Sunday Telegraph reports
Moradian surrendered the cache of weaponry and only received a five per cent discount on his sentence
The most common method of surrendering weapons as part of a negotiation is to leave them in an abandoned car.
On some rare occasions, they are dropped off at a lawyer's office.
Police officers, lawyers and judges have reportedly become concerned with these types of deals.
They believe some criminals will deliberately hoard dangerous weapons so they can cut their prison sentences.
An anonymous police officer who has negotiated several of the deals said the criminals are buying a reduced sentence.
'As a police officer you can't knock it back (an offer of weapons) — morally you've got to take the guns off the street,' the officer said.
A drug cook received a 15 per cent discount after supplying police with military-assault rifles and explosives
Police officers, lawyers and judges have reportedly become concerned with these types of deals. They believe some criminals will deliberately hoard dangerous weapons so they can cut their prison sentences
A major oversight with the deals is police are not told by the criminals where they purchased the weapons.
'They (criminals) are smart enough to know how to play the game and the cops and courts allow it,' a second officer said.
Paul McGirr, a Sydney lawyer who has negotiated several of the firearm deals said he has never looked into where the weapons came from or how they were obtained.
'It's for the authorities to satisfy themselves of the provenance of the weapons, that they've legitimately been taken off the streets and not stockpiled superficially for the purpose of cutting a deal.'
Recent estimates suggest there are 260,000 long barrel guns and 10,000 handguns currently circulating on the illegal black market.
