Chinese police arrest 62 suspects across 20 provinces in crack down on gun crime
- 82,000 airgun pellets, manufacturing equipment also seized in investigation that spanned 20 provinces
- Results of operation come just weeks after government announces campaign to crack down on gun crime ahead of nation’s 70th anniversary celebrations
Chinese police have detained 62 people after a nationwide investigation into the manufacture and sale of firearms and ammunition, according to Chinese media.
The operation, which spanned 20 provinces, began in July last year when officers from Cangnan county in Wenzhou, east China’s Zhejiang province, received a tip-off about a local man making frequent online purchases of moulds for making airgun pellets and other gun-related paraphernalia, news website Thepaper.cn reported on Tuesday.
After questioning the suspect, identified by the surname Jin, police started to piece together a manufacture and supply chain that stretched across the country.
Jin’s main supplier was identified as a university student surnamed Zhang who sold both airgun pellets and the moulds to make them. He was detained in January in Changchun, capital of northeast China’s Jilin province, and provided information that led to the capture of two other suspects later the same month.
The investigation continued and on Friday police across the country moved in to apprehend a further 58 people linked to the case, the report said, without elaborating.