THE gun-runner looked for all the world a respectable businessman as he sat in a plush hotel and flicked open his briefcase. Then, as casually as if he were discussing the weather, he offered enough hardware to spread death, destruction and terror throughout Britain. Enough bomb-making equipment, including Semtex, to shatter the Ulster peace talks for years to come. Glancing down the price lists of his arsenal, Cypriot Christos Ieronymides coldly told an undercover reporter he thought was a middleman for terrorists: "I've tested these myself and they're top class. "I can take you to the factory near Budapest to try them if you want. Once you order you can have them within a month. "Alternatively I can introduce you to a Russian arms dealer in Bulgaria who can supply anything immediately.

SEMTEX

"He has a warehouse where you choose what you want...it's like shopping at Tesco's. You just pick up whatever takes your fancy. "He can even supply Semtex explosive, although that's very traceable nowadays and you'd be better off with TNT. "But the key to a deal is getting your hands on the right paperwork to make it all look legitimate. And that's where I come In. Christos boast came early on in a perilous operation lasting eight months that saw reporters and photographers risk their lives. At any time, if our cover had been blown, the guns we were discussing could have been turned on us. The trail began as it often does in investigative work...with loose talk. This time it was in BlRMlNGHAM where a Greek Cypriot drug dealer bragged of contacts in London who could supply weapons. They can get you everything from rockets to tanks," he said. "But be careful, they have heavy connections with the Russian Mafia." From there we headed to LONDON where the swarthy pusher introduced us to Bayswater-based businessman Christos. A Cloak-and-dagger meeting was set up at a suite in the Marriott Hotel, Swiss Cottage. Christos, who arrived with a burly, bearded henchman, vowed: "We can get what ever you want." He has lived in London for ten years, owning and renting out property around the West End. Back home in Cyprus, unsuspecting family are very influential. Christos likes to be seen. as a pillar of society on the island.

TERRIFYING

So much so that he even has a picture of the Queen on the mantelpiece of his London flat. It is grotesque sham seeing as he thought our shipment would be going to the IRA. It was at a second meeting in London that Christos produced his price lists for Hungarian-made arms and made his astonishing 'Tesco' boast. "The pistols come with silencers and the rocket launchers have anti-personnel or armour-piercing shells," he added. Later, in a terrifying boast, Christos told our reporter that with the collapse of the former Soviet Union NUCLEAR material was available on the black market. Christos then went on to reveal the most important link in the chain...a senior foreign diplomat in Cyprus. The man is one of his government's key men in eastern Europe. But for a giant backhander he'll provide a terrorist with official documentation for ammunition That documentation is called an End User Certificate. This is vital in the arms trade. It is an official paper which shows that the arms detailed on it have been ordered by a responsible government and therefore legitimately be released the armaments factory and travel across borders. End User Certificates are intended to Stop terrorist groups-or enemy governments-ordering vast consignments of weapons. In this case the certificate would show that the goods had been ordered on behalf of the diplomat's government for I use by the army. To prove that the consul could deliver, Christos pulled out a copy of a certificate used on a previous deal. Keen to gather as much evidence as possible-and eager to be led to other members of the gang-our undercover team agreed an initial order of 2,000 sub-machine-guns, 500 automatic pistols, portable rocket launchers and one million rounds of ammunition. This horrifying amount was no problem to the gang.

The plan worked. The deal wasn't big en for them to want to close it then there...they were greedy for more. Christos then arranged for us to fly GREECE. It was in the capital Athens that our team got their first real look at of the lethal hardware up for sale. We were driven to a luxury apartment block in the heart of the city near the famous Acropolis. After a brief conversation in Greek, sober-suited businessman who look more like a banker than a gangster an attaché case holding an array of automatic and semi-automatic pistols. One by one he took them out and, the skill of a soldier, stripped them and placed the parts on a glass-top table. All were brand new. We were definitely accepted as bona fide dealers in the illegal arms trade. From there we went to meet the man who would transport the arms to England, retired Greek air force colonel Constantine Mouzoukis.

He is now general manager of Inter Eviar, one of the biggest and most respected travel agencies in Greece. Dapper Mouzoukis lounged by a swimming pool and sipped vodka add tonic as he outlined his smuggling plan. All the guns are in plain crates-no labels or factory markings," he said. "Getting landing permits will not be a problem. The safe delivery will be my responsibility. But after landing at Liverpool that's your problem. "Where they end up is not my business." His price for the smuggling would be £56,000. Again, he thought our reporters were acting as middleman for terrorists particularly the IRA-but he didn't care. "I've flown freight many times to England," Mouzoukis assured us in broken English. The scene then shifted to sunny Nicosia in CYPRUS as our man met the linchpin of the racket, Guyana's consul-general George Economides, 57. The man who holds so much of his own nation's trust arrived in a Mercedes with diplomatic number plates for our lunch meeting at the luxurious Hilton Hotel. As we fed his exotic tastes for expensive Thai-style food, Economides admitted: "There could be problems because the goods are going to Britain and Guyana is a commenwealth country.

But I have the authority to sign End User Certificates on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the President. Both are close friends." Both will be horrified at the evil cunning of the man they respected . . until now. The diplomat smoothly went into his sales pitch for the End User Certificate he would provide. "It will look official but won't be, if you understand what I mean," he smiled. "I've done this before very successfully. At least two officials get a slice of the cake. But it's likely to cost up to 350,000 American dollars (about £215.000) in cash to compensate for the risks.

With nearly all the pieces in place and our dossier on the gang growing by the day, all that was left was to place an order for the arms and discuss the price. The money man turned out to be Christos. And a further meeting had to be arranged back in LONDON The crooks set a tight schedule. Our team were forced to race to the airport and catch the next flight home. We still did not know the exact location of the meeting. When we arrived in London we were told Christos would be waiting in the lobby of the Ambassador Hotel near Euston Station. They, of course, thought we represented terrorists. And though we wanted to record every moment of our rendezvous we had to guard against the possibility that we would be frisked for handguns by minders-and that might reveal any bulky recording equipment. So one investigator hid a tiny video camera similar to the ones used in Formula One cars. That way every word and move the arms dealer made were recorded with minimal risk-but no one was in any doubt it was still dangerous. Christos leered as he handed over brochures of the array of weapons. As a waiter brought over an orange juice and a mineral water he calmly slipped the glossy pamphlet under a large envelope. Then he made a lighthearted comment about the weather. But as soon as the boy was out of ear-shot Christos put the specifications of a Skorpion 9mm sub-machine-gun into our man's hand. One of the Skorpion's main attractions to killers is that it is one of the few rapid fire weapons which can be used effectively with a silencer. The leaflet read chillingly: "The weapon is so small that it could be concealed in the shoulder holster." An entire 30-shot magazine can be unleashed in TWO SECONDS. The list went on and on. There was the Zastava Z10 eight shot 10mm pistol-and Christos even had the Eastern Bloc equivalent of Clint Eastwood's film weapon on sale,in a .44 Magnum. The killing power of the arms on offer, however, was no movie fantasy. Their gruesome reality is illustrated by the carnage of Bosnia where a great many guns end up. Christos was also keen to sell us the same make of mortars and anti-tank rockets that pummelled Dubrovnik. Then there were the land mines. Our shipment was to include 1,000 a killing field's worth.

BULLETS

After that came the handguns-1,000 Z1Os plus the bullets to go with them. The price of the total order just over £10 MILLION

Christos made a note, saying the shipment would be ready in under a month. It was arranged the 24- ton consignment would be flown to either Liverpool or Southampton. But our reporters had n intention of completing the deal. Our dossier ha been passed to police.