UK jails man for trying to smuggle military-grade gun parts to Hong Kong

2026-02-12 - 02:07

A court in Leeds, UK, has jailed a 47-year-old man for two years and one month after he attempted to smuggle military-grade gun parts to Hong Kong. Steven Gates. Photo: HMRC. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said that metalwork businessman Steven Gates had sought to send rifle scopes to a buyer, despite not having the proper licence. The scopes, which magnify a gun’s target, were listed as “low-value cameras” on customs papers, the HMRC said. Evidence of 10 more shipments to Hong Kong was found when police searched his home and arrested him in May 2023. HMRC said the defendant, from Wakefield, pleaded guilty at Leeds Crown Court on Friday to exporting prohibited or restricted goods and falsifying export documents. “This was a calculated and persistent attempt to undermine and circumvent the strict licensing regime that is in place to protect the UK,” Edwige Hill, deputy director in HMRC’s fraud investigation service, said, according to the BBC. “This case sends a clear warning to others that if you try and send military items without an export licence, we will catch you and you will face justice.”