Two men have been arrested in Eastern Europe on suspicion of using the 'dark net' to sell firearms to buyers in Britain and smuggling them in the post.

The pair, aged 39 and 33, were detained in Ljubljana, Slovenia, after police raided a house and found semi-automatic guns, hand grenades and ammunition.

Weapons and ammunition were sent via postal mail to buyers across Europe, including France, Netherlands, Sweden and the UK, according to Europol.

Two men have been arrested in Eastern Europe on suspicion of using the 'dark net' to sell lethal weapons to buyers in Britain and smuggling them in the post

Among the weapons seized were an AK-47 type rifle and a sub-machine gun.

Europol said buyers paid for the weapons using online currency Bitcoin.

Intelligence provided by the law enforcement agency helped Slovenian police identify the suspects.

The dark net is a subsection of the deep web, the part of the internet that does not show up in search engines or on social media.

It is used as a way of sharing information and trading goods, but the anonymous and encrypted nature of it has attracted large amounts of illegal activity.

Weapons and ammunition were sent via postal mail to buyers across Europe, including France, Netherlands, Sweden and the UK, according to Europol

The dark net uses numerous layers of security and encryption, hiding the IP address and the activity of the user.

It is used as a way of sharing information and trading goods, but the anonymous and encrypted nature of it has attracted large amounts of illegal activity.

The famous Silk Road website was used to sell drugs in exchange for Bitcoins.