Two men jailed over gun deal witnessed by watching surveillance officers
Written by News on 02/09/2020
Two men have been jailed for a combined 14 years after being caught in a gun handover in Kent.
The investigating team, led by the National Crime Agency (NCA), watched on as Kristian Romanov, 24, met Kristyan Hristev, 30, at the latter’s house in December 2019.
After picking up a rucksack from Hristev, Romanov was arrested alongside his two passengers after driving a short distance away from the property in Parr’s Head Mews, Rochester.
Officers discovered a Glock 42 firearm with several rounds of live 9mm ammunition in the bag.
NCA officers and armed Kent Police units then surrounded Hristev’s home, and he and his housemate were arrested after emerging from the property some two hours later.
Officers subsequently searched the rooftops of surrounding properties.
They found over 17g of cocaine and another cache of bullets – matching the ones recovered from Romanov.
It is believed the bullets were thrown out of the window as the house was surrounded by police.
Hristev and Romanov, who are Bulgarian nationals, both pleaded guilty to the possession and supply of a firearm and ammunition at Maidstone Crown Court on 27 May.
On Tuesday, Hristev was sentenced to nine years in prison, and Romanov to five years and seven months.
Three other men arrested as part of the investigation were released with no further action.
Eddie McGrann, from the NCA’s armed operations unit, said the organisation “continues in its fight to combat serious and organised crime, particularly crime that involves firearms that can have significant impact on our communities”.
Tim Burton, specialist prosecutor in the Crown Prosecution Service’s organised crime division, added: “We worked closely with the NCA to prove with phone data and DNA evidence that the gun and ammunition seized had been transferred from Hristev to Romanov.”
(c) Sky News 2020: Two men jailed over gun deal witnessed by watching surveillance officers
