Castleford man jailed for posting guns and bullets from America to West Yorkshire

A man who organised for parcels containing guns and bullets to be posted from America to West Yorkshire has been jailed for almost ten years.

Wade Priestley, 34, from Castleford, flew to the United States and arranged to send back a parcel containing a handgun to an address in Bradford. The package was intercepted in the UK on November 17, 2023.

Four further parcels were then posted from California to addresses in Halifax and Bradford but were intercepted in January before they arrived.

Two of the packages contained a handgun, one carried 20 bullets, and another contained four heat-sealed bags holding component parts to make two full handguns.

The parcels were labelled as bike, car or brake parts to disguise the insides and were sent from made-up addresses in United States.

West Yorkshire Police arrested Priestley on 1 February and he later admitted to conspiracy to acquire possession of dutiable good with fraudulent intent.

He was jailed for nine years and ten months on 10 October, 2024.

Detective Chief Inspector Al Burns, said: "I have no doubt these firearms would have ended up in the hands of serious organised criminals where they would have posed a real danger to our communities had they not been intercepted."

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