Naval gun shells found in car boot at Shanghai highway checkpoint

Police carrying out a routine inspection of a car at a highway checkpoint in Shanghai found two naval gun shells in the boot.

The copper-plated 100mm shells, about 1.2 metres long, were concealed in two separate packages.

They were spotted when officers at the suburban checkpoint passed them through an X-ray scanner.

The driver was quoted as telling police that they were decorative “handicraft” items that merely resembled shells and were gifts from a friend. He was placed in custody.

A preliminary investigation found the shells were not live and did not contain any explosives.

But police said military experts would carry out a more thorough investigation to determine the source of the shells.