A security guard who imported hundreds of illegal zombie knives and sold them online, including to people he knew were schoolchildren, is facing jail.
Jonathan Soares, 20, was initially arrested as part of a fraud investigation, before an analysis of his phones revealed his secret trade in the deadly weapons.
Using the evidence, police were able to unravel his supply lines and intercept incoming shipments – seizing 650 banned zombie knives before they could reach the streets.
Commander Stephen Clayman, head of the National Knife Crime Centre, said each represented ‘one less opportunity for violence and one less family facing devastating loss’.
The Met said zombie knives are still carried by criminals despite being outlawed 10 years ago.
Of the serious violent incidents involving under 25s in London this year, one in ten have involved a zombie knife.
Soares pleaded guilty to importing zombie knives, push daggers, Rambo knives and tasers when he appeared at Inner London Crown Court today.
He also admitted marketing a combat knife, having counterfeit materials with intent, delivering fake bank notes, making or supplying phishing scripts and banking credentials for use in frauds, and importing a medicinal product, Toseina, without a license.
Soares used fraud and money laundering to finance the scheme.
Investigators examining his devices found hundreds of pieces of stolen personal data, detailed scripts impersonating banks and evidence that he had imported controlled drugs.
Scotland Yard revealed he ordered the weapons in bulk from suppliers in Pakistan, South Korea and China.
He was able to get them tailor-made, right down to the colour he wanted.
On one occasion he even sent a screenshot from a news report on the ban featuring a picture of a blade asking them to replicate it for him.
Detectives also found worrying evidence Soares was looking to expand into the gun supply market.
Messages revealed he had approached overseas manufacturers and researched how to make his own firearms with a 3D printer.
Analysis of a Telegram group linked to Soares led detectives to a parcel destined for Rayhan Rahman containing 10 zombie knives and 20 push daggers intended for resale.
Rahman, 18, of Chadwell Heath, pleaded guilty at the same court to fraudulent evasion of a prohibition for zombie knives and push daggers last month.
During Thursday’s hearing he further pleaded guilty to being concerned in the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition for zombie knives and flick knives.
He will be sentenced on October 13.
Detective Chief Inspector Imran Beg said: ‘Soares sold these deadly weapons to people across the country, with a complete disregard for the damage they cause.
‘In fact, he crudely sought feedback from the people he sold the weapons to – he knew they were being used to stab and injure people but continued anyway.
‘He used fraud to fund his plans, showing how economic crime is often at the heart of wider criminality. Specialist detectives worked tirelessly to expose the full extent of his offending, pulling his network out by the roots.
‘We will be relentless in going after the criminals who seek to financially gain from the violence that rips families and communities apart. That is why serious violence is down in London and we’re disrupting serious and organised crime groups more.’
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