Customs officers at Coventry Airport were amazed when they found a rocket launcher that had been posted from America. 

They seized the weapon, which looks like a bazooka several weeks ago at the Parcelforce International Hub at the airport. It is similar to the one used to attack the MI5 building in London last year.

Customs officers sift through thousands of items being brought in to the country for anything suspicious or illegal.

Internet orders are one of the reasons for this kind of trade to increase, with 500,000 illegal cigarettes, Chinese medicines and even animals being seized.

But the rocket launcher stood out for officers, who promptly opened the package and seized it.

Customs spokesman Mark Powell said it is not actually illegal to import these weapons, providing they have been made safe so they cannot be used.

But officers discovered that the three aluminium plugs could easily have been removed, make the rocket launcher live and potentially lethal if it fell into the wrong hands.

He said:

“The person who ordered this might well have kept it safe, but it could easily have been activated.

“It was quite obvious what it was when it came in – it said had a customs declaration on the package.”