A travel agent who drove supplies to war-torn Ukraine was arrested just weeks later after a gun smuggling plot was uncovered by police.
Liam Sneddon, aged 34, now faces a prison sentence after pleading guilty at the High Court in Glasgow to a charge of being involved in serious organised crime.
The dad-of-one, whose Instagram account suggests he launched an online travel agency called Snedztravel in October 2021, had taken part in a convoy of vans delivering urgently-needed supplies to Ukraine in March 2022.
On his Facebook page, he wrote: “As many of you have seen on the crisis in Ukraine what your seen on TV is the hidden truth.
I am running a bus this week into Ukraine with supplies and taking woman and children out to places of safety. Also Scotland is now accepting Ukraine refugees.”
His Instagram account showed him and mates driving across Europe to Ukraine to deliver supplies.
But two months later, he was arrested after US federal agents inspected a parcel due to be sent to an address in Stirlingshire in Scotland and found a Glock handgun and manual inside.
The court heard that the weapon was seized and a replacement ‘placebo’ package with secret recording devices was delivered instead. This parcel was sent on May 25 to the property where Steven Richardson, 47, and another man were.
The same morning, Sneddon and associate 40-year-old Paul Kirwan drove in the travel agent’s BMW X5 to woods in Lanarkshire, where they were met by Richardson. Photos from a camera concealed in the package showed images of the Sneddon and Kirwan trying to open it, both wearing balaclavas and latex gloves, before officers from the National Crime Agency swooped.
However, the charge stated that it was Kirwan who arranged the purchase of the Glock and prosecutors accepted that Sneddon believed he was buying one kilo of cannabis from the US, rather than a gun.
All three men pleaded guilty to the same charge and have been remanded in custody before being sentenced next month.
The post Travel agent faces prison sentence following failed gun smuggling plot appeared first on Travel Gossip.
Continue reading...
Liam Sneddon, aged 34, now faces a prison sentence after pleading guilty at the High Court in Glasgow to a charge of being involved in serious organised crime.
The dad-of-one, whose Instagram account suggests he launched an online travel agency called Snedztravel in October 2021, had taken part in a convoy of vans delivering urgently-needed supplies to Ukraine in March 2022.
On his Facebook page, he wrote: “As many of you have seen on the crisis in Ukraine what your seen on TV is the hidden truth.
I am running a bus this week into Ukraine with supplies and taking woman and children out to places of safety. Also Scotland is now accepting Ukraine refugees.”
His Instagram account showed him and mates driving across Europe to Ukraine to deliver supplies.
But two months later, he was arrested after US federal agents inspected a parcel due to be sent to an address in Stirlingshire in Scotland and found a Glock handgun and manual inside.
The court heard that the weapon was seized and a replacement ‘placebo’ package with secret recording devices was delivered instead. This parcel was sent on May 25 to the property where Steven Richardson, 47, and another man were.
The same morning, Sneddon and associate 40-year-old Paul Kirwan drove in the travel agent’s BMW X5 to woods in Lanarkshire, where they were met by Richardson. Photos from a camera concealed in the package showed images of the Sneddon and Kirwan trying to open it, both wearing balaclavas and latex gloves, before officers from the National Crime Agency swooped.
However, the charge stated that it was Kirwan who arranged the purchase of the Glock and prosecutors accepted that Sneddon believed he was buying one kilo of cannabis from the US, rather than a gun.
All three men pleaded guilty to the same charge and have been remanded in custody before being sentenced next month.
The post Travel agent faces prison sentence following failed gun smuggling plot appeared first on Travel Gossip.
Continue reading...
