Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2018 to Question 123165, what the dates were of each of the five arrests made; what the names were of each of the people arrested; and what the details of the charges were by section of the 2008 control order.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not release the details of investigations where no conviction has taken place or the names of those individuals or companies that HMRC have previously, or are currently, investigating.

Details of the prosecution for a trafficking and brokering offence arising under the provisions of the Export Control Order 2008 are as follows:

One individual was arrested in March 2011 for promoting the supply or delivery of handguns and hand-held surface to air missiles to Azerbaijan, in contravention of the Export Control Order 2008. In July 2012, they were found guilty on both counts and sentenced to three and a half years in respect of missiles and two and a half years in respect of the handguns, to run concurrently.

The action HMRC takes in respect of breaches of export controls will depend on the nature and seriousness of any offence, and that action is not limited to investigation with a view to prosecution.