Two Machine Guns Found In False Wall In London Flat

In London UK, Terence O’Connor, 25, was sentenced at Harrow Crown Court to 16 years and three months in prison on Monday after admitting possession of the deadly weapons.

Terence O'Connor was jailed after police found two machine guns in a false wall in a flat in north London. (Metropolitan Police)

A secret stash of machine guns and ammunition was discovered by police behind a false wall during a raid on a drug dealer’s London home.

Officers also seized more than £140,000 in cash and 1kg of cocaine valued at up to £36,000 in the raid on the property in Edgware, north London, in April 2020.

His conviction followed an investigation conducted by the Metropolitan Police’s money laundering team.

The investigation began sometimes in April 2020, after officers saw O’Connor hand what they believed to be a bag of cash to a suspect they were monitoring as part of a money laundering investigation.

Nine days later, O’Connor was seen in a parked car in Silverston Way, Edgware.

After he started moving items from the boot, detectives moved in and discovered a black rucksack with a large quantity of cocaine inside it.

O’Connor told the officers: “I’ve never seen that before.”

He was found in possession of an encrypted mobile phone that was on the EncroChat network used by organised crime members.

A thorough examination of the car revealed a concealed hiding space within a passenger side interior panel.

Although it was empty apart from two separate coloured latex gloves, it was assessed that it could conceal a significant amount of illicit items.

During the search of an address linked to O'Connor on Amais Drive, Edgware, detectives discovered £143,080 in cash, a money counting machine and additional quantities of cocaine.

In total, officers seized about 1kg of cocaine with a wholesale value of about £32,000 to £36,000.

Police said empty drugs packaging recovered from the property indicated that upwards of 100kg of cocaine had been processed at the location.

Within the flat, police discovered a false wall panel concealing a void behind it. Inside the void was a holdall containing a cache of automatic weapons and ammunition. Officers also discovered a compatible silencer.