Weapons dealer jailed for breaching ban

A businessman who flouted an arms ban to Azerbaijan has been jailed by a British court. International arms dealer Michael Ranger was found guilty of trying to sell surface to air missiles and handguns to the country without a licence despite a strict embargo.

He was jailed for three and a half years for the missiles and for two and a half years for attempting to sell a hundred Beretta pistols to the Azerbaijan government. Both sentences are to run concurrently.

Mr Ranger obtained the missiles from a secret contact in North Korea and the 9mm guns from a US manufacturer. He set up a Hong Kong-based company to conceal his involvement from British authorities. He was arrested in 2011 at Stanstead Airport. At no time did he obtain a trade licence from the Export Control Organisation, part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

“Ranger was an experienced arms dealer who knew what he was doing,” said Peter Millory, assistant director of Criminal Investigation for HMRC. “He knew about the arms embargo, he knew he would be refused permission to ship the arms to Azerbaijan but was prepared to go ahead anyway out of sheer greed.

“HMRC will not stand by whilst people like Ranger break the law to line their own pocket.”

Elspeth Pringle from the Crown Prosecution Service added: “Ranger’s dealings with Azerbaijan were not only illegal but potentially very dangerous.”