Today’s news / Major weapons case begins: Policemen were undercover
Two police officers tried to buy weapons from a 32-year-old man charged in the case. Photo: Silas Stein/Ritzau Scanpix/archive

Major weapons case begins: Policemen were undercover

In the spring of last year, a 32-year-old man met several times with two people in Struer with the aim of concluding a deal to buy and sell an undetermined quantity of weapons. No agreement was ever reached. The 32-year-old did not know that the two people he was negotiating with were police officers. On Monday in the Court in Holstebro, the trial of the 32-year-old, who along with two others is accused in the case, which among other things involves extensive sale and possession of weapons. All three plead not guilty. They have been in custody since August last year. The indictment reads that the 32-year-old has done business with a person with ties to the biker community. The alleged ringleader has engaged in so many arms deals that the normal sentence of eight years’ imprisonment should be exceeded, the prosecution claims.
     The comprehensive indictment details a ten-gun trade. They probably came from Montenegro, and the many weapons were inspected in Belgium before they were smuggled to Denmark in the autumn. The case stems, among other things, from the fact that the police have gained access to encrypted communications from the defendants on a service called Sky Ecc. In the current case, the 32-year-old is alleged to have tried to buy a total of 45 pistols and an unknown number of hand grenades via Sky Ecc. Incidentally, two of the defendants – the 32-year-old man and another 32-year-old man – have citizenship of Bosnia and Morocco respectively. Both are demanded to be deported. 14 hearings have been scheduled in the case. In addition to the counts of possession and attempted sale of weapons, the men are also charged with several counts of possession and attempted sale of drugs. /ritzau/