Birmingham man jailed for eight years over plan to convert blank-firers into lethal weapons
A man who tried to convert nine blank-firers into lethal firearms has been jailed for eight years in one of the first cases of its kind.
Banaras Malang was arrested on January 28 after a search of his home address led to the recovery of nine Turkish-manufactured top-venting blank-firers along with a full set up for converting them into weapons capable of firing live ammunition, along with parts and ammunition-making equipment.
At Birmingham Crown Court on December 4, the 33-year-old, of Wandle Grove in Tyseley, was jailed for eight years for possession of those firearms.
The court heard how Malang bought the weapons from legitimate sellers around the UK.
He went on to buy specialist equipment that would allow him to convert the guns, known as top-venting blank firers (TVBF), so that they could fire live ammunition.
The guns are now illegal to possess following testing by the National Crime Agency and policing, which showed models from four Turkish manufacturers were readily convertible and therefore illegal.
The case is one of the first of its kind in the country, as the guns were blank-firers but Malang was convicted as if they were live-firing weapons as they were high-quality and readily convertible into live-firing weapons.
The force said the investigation began when it received information that specialist equipment used to manufacture ammunition had been ordered and delivered to an address in Erdington.
The orders had been made using the bank card and address of a vulnerable man who Malang had taken advantage of.
Since 2021, UK law enforcement has recovered more than 800 of the weapons which have been linked to crime. Converted blank-firers have been used in at least four killings in the UK in the last two years.
Detective Inspector Amar Patel from the Regional Organised Crime Unit for the West Midlands said: "Malang was clearly intent on converting these weapons so that they could become lethal firearms, and they would undoubtedly have gone on to be used to commit crime causing untold fear and potential fatality.
"He went to great lengths to cover his tracks using false names, addresses and exploited a vulnerable man to pay for some of the goods.
"We have taken nine weapons off the streets, and Malang is now behind bars."
