A taxi passenger had a large amount of cash and an imitation handgun taken off him after Nottinghamshire Police pulled over the vehicle he was travelling in. The force says that officers from its Ashfield Operation Reacher team pulled the taxi over in Leamington Drive in Sutton-in-Ashfield just before 10am on Tuesday (November 8).
The passenger was also found to be in possession of a small amount of cannabis, as well as the cash and gas-powered pellet gun. A 24-year-old man remains in police custody after being arrested on suspicion of possessing an imitation firearm and possessing a class B drug.
Nottinghamshire Police says the gun will be sent for further investigation, whilst the cash will be placed in secure police storage until the suspect can prove it came from a legal source. PC Jade Massey, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "We had reason to believe that the passenger in this taxi may have been in possession of illegal items and very quickly had our suspicions confirmed.
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"Weapons of this nature may not be genuine firearms, but they can still cause significant injury, alarm and distress to members of the public who are not trained to know the difference. I am pleased we have now been able to take this device of the streets and hope that today’s stop serves as a warning to others about the potential consequences of taking these items out in public."
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