Police in Ankang county, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province have broken up an online gun-selling gang, seizing 53 suspects together with 38 imitation guns and some 30,000 bullets, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Saturday.
Ankang local police conducted a 13-month-long investigation after receiving a lead that an Internet user going by "Xuge" became engaged in the gun trading business online at the beginning of 2017, said the report.
Police found out that the suspect, surnamed Xu, would distribute gun parts to his customers under the guise of optical instruments and galvanized wires through a parcel delivery service in Ankang, and arrested him as he was on his way to making a delivery order.
Xu's accomplice, surnamed Feng, was also later arrested. Police found out they had been delivering packages to more than 20 cities across the country in the past year.
The police set up a special investigation squad for the case and visited 28 provinces over 13 months as they sought to uncover the supply line for the illegal arm trade and the customers.
"We eventually seized 53 suspects and raided two gun-producing dens, seizing 38 guns and more than 30,000 bullets," Cai Jiangang, a police officer at the Xuyang county police station, told the media.
According to the Article 125 of the China's Criminal Law, whoever illegally manufactures, trades, transports, mails, or stocks up guns, ammunition, or explosives faces not less than three years but not more than 10 years of fixed-term imprisonment; or not less than 10 years of imprisonment, life imprisonment, or death if the consequences are serious.
