Police in Jiangsu have broken up a gang of 200 for illegally trading airguns and pellets, following a tip off from a an express company, Tencent News reported.

Several packages which were found to contain air gun components including an 80cm barrel, were found by the courier in December. A description of contents provided by the sender of the parcels showed the items were hardware.

The recipient, a middleman selling airguns online, was caught by police in Guanyun county when he collected the parcels. The man, whose full name was not given in the report, had four complete air guns and parts for 12 others at his home. He bought his first airgun from someone he knew online in 2016 and had since created a chat room to promote for his illegal trade.

The report said the man normally sent the components in several separate packages to the buyers.