A woman who smuggled a deadly haul of military grade weapons, ammunition and Class A drugs into the UK has been jailed for nine years following a National Crime Agency investigation.

Kasha Sanderson, 40, of Naishcombe Hill, Wick, Bristol, was stopped on 24 February last year as she drove an Irish registered Peugeot 3008 into the tourist controls at Dover Eastern Docks after arriving on a ferry from Calais.

When questioned about what she had been doing abroad, she told officers she had been scattering ashes in Lyon, France.

Border Force officers searched the vehicle.

Inside two custom-built hides in the vehicle’s footwells theydiscovered 13 weapons including two Skorpion sub machine guns, an Uzi sub machine gun, a Glock handgun and nine converted blank firing pistols as well as 289 rounds of ammunition and 5kg of heroin with a street value of around £500,000.

Unemployed Sanderson was arrested and when later questioned by NCA officers, she claimed she thought she was smuggling cannabis.

She admitted smuggling firearms, ammunition and Class A drugs and was sentenced today (Thursday) at Canterbury Crown Court.

NCA Branch Commander Rachel Bramley said: “Thanks to a brilliant detection by our Border Force partners and the NCA investigation these terrifying weapons and ammunition are out of the hands of extremely dangerous criminals.

“Firearms crime in the UK is among the lowest in the world, but these guns had the potential to cause horrific damage. We have seen in recent years the tragic consequences of entirely innocent victims getting caught in the crossfire of criminals with automatic weapons such as Skorpion machine pistols.

“With Sanderson’s jailing, the organised crime group behind this smuggling plot have lost a trusted courier and profits they are unable to plough back into further offences."

5 March 2026