Woman pleads guilty to selling M16 firing pin

[Nene.]

Woman pleads guilty to selling M16 firing pin
By Shaffiq Alkhatib | Posted: 06 December 2010 1452 hrs
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="260"> <tbody><tr> <td align="right" width="20"></td> <td align="right" width="240">

</td> </tr> <tr> <td height="60" valign="top"></td> <td class="update" height="80" valign="top"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td bgcolor="#f6f6f6" width="138">Photos </td> <td bgcolor="#f6f6f6" width="47">1 of 1</td> <td bgcolor="#f6f6f6" width="18"><input disabled="disabled" id="btnPrev" value="<< Previous" src="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/images/butt_previous.gif" height="15" type="image" width="18"></td> <td bgcolor="#f6f6f6" width="19"><input id="bntPlay" value="Play - Stop" src="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/images/butt_stop.gif" height="15" type="image" width="19"></td> <td bgcolor="#f6f6f6" width="18"><input disabled="disabled" id="btnNext" value=" Next >> " src="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/images/butt_next.gif" height="15" type="image" width="18"></td> </tr> </tbody></table>

</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td class="update"></td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
SINGAPORE: A 55-year-old shop owner pleaded guilty on Monday to selling a rifle firing pin and having another firing pin in her store.

The rifle firing pin is a weapon component and requires a license for its sale.

Loh Boon Cheng, who owns Lay Hwa Store on the second floor of the Golden Mile Food Centre at Beach Road, admitted that she sold the firing pin for M16 automatic rifle to a media intern on March 5.

The twenty-four-year-old intern went to her shop, located in what is commonly known as the Army Market at around 3pm that day and bought it for S$70.

One of the intern's colleagues then lodged a police report about the incident a week later.

The firing pin was seized and a report from the Logistics Department of the Singapore Police Force stated that it was in a good condition.

On March 18, a team of Police officers as well as personnel from the Singapore Armed Forces Special Investigation Branch raided Loh's shop, where they seized another firing pin from the premises.

Loh told the authorities that she had bought the M16 firing pins from an unknown seller and had intended to re-sell them.

The plump, fair-complexioned woman will be sentenced on Thursday.

For selling the firing pin, Loh can be jailed up to three years and fined S$10,000.

And for having the component without a license, she can be jailed up to three years and fined a maximum of S$5,000.

-CNA/ac

 

[Nene.]

Woman pleads guilty to firing pin sale, possession


Dec 7, 2010

Woman pleads guilty to firing pin sale, possession

By Elena Chong, Courts Correspondent

Loh sold the pin to a TNP intern for $70.

ABOUT two weeks after a woman sold an M-16 rifle firing pin to an intern with The New Paper (TNP) who had posed as a buyer, police raided her shop and found another. Loh Boon Cheng, 55, yesterday admitted selling the component part to Mr Lim Wei Li, 24, without a licence at Golden Mile Food Centre in Beach Road on March 5.

M-16 rifles, which were standard issue to Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) infantry units, are being replaced by SAR21 assault rifles. The woman also pleaded guilty to possessing the item, which is essential to fire the M-16, at her shop without a licence on March 18.

Loh owns Lay Hwa Store, which has sold surplus army accessories like uniforms and boots for the past 20 years at the food centre. A district court heard that Mr Lim and his TNP colleague Zaihan Mohamed Yusof, 38, went to the store on March 5 after hearing from sources that controlled items from the army were sold there.

Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[Nene.]

Woman jailed for selling M16 firing pin


Woman jailed for selling M16 firing pin
By Shaffiq Alkhatib | Posted: 09 December 2010 1430 hrs
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="260"> <tbody><tr> <td align="right" width="20"></td> <td align="right" width="240">

</td> </tr> <tr> <td height="60" valign="top"></td> <td class="update" height="80" valign="top"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td bgcolor="#f6f6f6" width="138">Photos </td> <td bgcolor="#f6f6f6" width="47">1 of 1</td> <td bgcolor="#f6f6f6" width="18"><input disabled="disabled" id="btnPrev" value="<< Previous" src="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/images/butt_previous.gif" height="15" type="image" width="18"></td> <td bgcolor="#f6f6f6" width="19"><input id="bntPlay" value="Play - Stop" src="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/images/butt_stop.gif" height="15" type="image" width="19"></td> <td bgcolor="#f6f6f6" width="18"><input disabled="disabled" id="btnNext" value=" Next >> " src="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/images/butt_next.gif" height="15" type="image" width="18"></td> </tr> </tbody></table>

</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td class="update"></td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
SINGAPORE: A 55-year-old woman who sold a rifle firing pin at her military supply shop has been sentenced to six weeks' jail.

Loh Boon Cheng, who owns Lay Hwa Store on the second floor of the Golden Mile Food Centre at Beach Road, sold the firing pin to a media intern on 5 March.

This was not the first time that the shop, located in what's commonly known as the Army Market, was caught selling weapon components.

Assistant Public Prosecutor Ashraf Hassan told the court on Thursday that Loh's husband was convicted in 2006 of selling items including 37 rifle magazines.

Leong Ho Pan, 61, was jailed six weeks while Loh was given a stern warning. The warning did not deter Loh from committing the latest offence.

In the latest incident, the 24-year-old intern went to the shop at around 3pm and bought the M16 firing pin for S$70.

One of his colleagues then lodged a police report about the incident a week later.

A team of police officers and personnel from the Singapore Armed Forces Special Investigation Branch raided Loh's shop on 18 March.

They seized another firing pin from the premises.

In mitigation, Loh's lawyer, Chong Eng Chong asked the judge to give his client a short jail sentence of up to two weeks.

He highlighted that Loh had bought the two firing pins from an army boy many years ago.

She then kept the pins in a box and had forgotten all about them until the intern went to her shop asking to buy one of them.

Mr Chong added that his client has breast cancer. She had gone through chemotherapy and has suffered no relapses since then.

However, in handling out the sentence, District Judge Low Wee Ping said that all underground illegal trade of items such as weapon components and explosives must be deterred.

He stressed that there is no room in Singapore for such activities.

For selling the firing pin, Loh could have been jailed up to three years and fined S$10,000.

And for being in possession of the component without a licence, she could have been jailed up to three years and fined up to S$5,000.

- CNA/ir