Criminals are increasingly using the same postal system that makes internet shopping possible to smuggle guns into Britain, a police chief has warned.
Dave Thompson, chief constable of West Midlands Police, said weapons arriving through the "fast parcel system" was becoming more common.
He said six or seven years ago it was more common to see 10 guns concealed in cars being stopped at Dover, but this was now happening less.
"What's become more of a feature is weapons through the fast parcel system, individual items coming through," he told The Guardian.
Mr Thompson said guns and ammunition are still hard to acquire in the UK, and after the Paris attacks police had intensified their focus on stopping weapons being available for sale.
But he said firearms are coming in from the US and Europe, with Germany and Balkan countries causing particular concerns.
Criminals are using new tactics to try to get banned items into the country, including sending them in small parts.
Mr Thompson said: "We have to watch a trend of disassembling the weapons and sending them in component parts."
It is feared that once firearms reach the UK they could fall into terrorist hands.
"We can’t safeguard ourselves by relying on criminals who might have access to firearms to have benign intent," Mr Thompson said.
Mr Thompson joined the West Midlands force in 2010. In the same year he led the 2010 review of National Counter Terrorism structures and has headed the National Gangs portfolio and the Criminal use of Firearms portfolio since 2011.
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