A north London man has been found guilty of various terrorism offences after collecting instruction manuals of how to create 3D-printed firearms.
Abdiwahid Abdulkadir Mohamed, 32, was a member of various extreme Islamist groups and was first stopped by counter-terrorism officers at Heathrow Airport in September 2022.
Officers questioned Mohamed and released him but kept the digital devices he had in his possession for closer examination.
As well as Telegram accounts showing his allegiance to extreme Islamist groups, the probe also showed a number of documents that appeared to be instructions on how to create and build 3D-printed firearms.
Officers found that he had set up a private channel, which was only accessible by his account, and that he was using the channel to send and then effectively store the documents without being saved directly to any of his own devices.
Mohamed was arrested at his home in Neasden, north London, in January 2023 and officers seized another mobile phone in his possession.
This was also examined and officers found further evidence of his extremist mind-set, and that he had also carried out a search for 3D printers on eBay.
He was charged with six counts of possessing documents likely to be useful for committing or preparing an act of terrorism and found guilty last week.
Mohamed will be sentenced at the same court on December 3.
Acting commander Gareth Rees, from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command said: “Mohamed was using a social media app to send himself and store instructions on how to make 3D-printed weapons.
“He tried to conceal what he was doing by using two anonymous accounts and storing the documents on the encrypted app’s servers, but this didn’t stop us from identifying what he was up to.
“The circulation of these documents online is extremely harmful and anyone storing, or sharing this type of content can expect to be investigated and prosecuted as Mohamed was here.
“This investigation also came about as a result of a ‘schedule 7’ stop by officers at an airport.
“It shows just how valuable those powers are in helping us to identify and investigate potential terrorist activity and, ultimately, help keep the public safe.”
