1,180 guns, 6m bullets seized in police raid
Shanghai Daily, November 30, 2015
Police in China, where gun possession by ordinary people is illegal, have busted an online gun selling operation, seizing 1,180 guns and more than 6 million bullets, according to Xinhua news agency.
A seven-month investigation that began after police came across suspected gun parts in a package netted 18 people involved in the sale of guns in China via a website hosted on a US server, Xinhua said.
The gun sales ring had made more than 4 million yuan (US$625,537) in profit since 2012, according to a police officer quoted by Xinhua.
The manufacture and sale of guns is strictly regulated in China and individuals can be jailed for up to seven years if convicted of illegally possessing a gun.
In April, police found items believed to be gun components in a package when inspecting a courier service, Xinhua quoted Lyu Ming, a police officer in the northern region of Inner Mongolia, as saying.
In the following months, police traced packages to five suspects in central China's Hunan Province and raided a house they had used to sell guns, Xinhua said.
One suspect confessed they had been in the online gun business since 2012, using a rented server in the United States.
They posted ads online and recruited sales agents nationwide, Xinhua said. Thirteen others were also detained, it said without giving details.
