Four men arrested as Hong Kong police uncover site containing materials for making ammunition and explosives
- After a tip-off, officers check an abandoned pre-war military structure near the Leaping Dragon Walk hiking trail and find 800 shells, 200 bullet heads and suspected gunpowder
Four men were arrested in Hong Kong in 12 hours after police uncovered a makeshift arms factory for producing home-made bullets and explosives near a Hong Kong hiking trail on Thursday evening.
After a tip-off, officers went to check an abandoned pre-war military structure near the Leaping Dragon Walk hiking trail in eastern Hong Kong Island and found 800 empty cartridges, 200 bullet heads, suspected gunpowder and a press machine.
Investigators believed they were being used to make ammunition. Ten rounds of rifle bullets and a haul of arrows and knives were also recovered.
Officers also found chemicals such as concentrated acid, ammonium nitrate and potassium nitrate, which they said could be used to produce explosives.
In a briefing in the early hours of Friday, Senior Superintendent Steve Li Kwai-wah of the organised crime and triad bureau said police believed the bullets were being made for rifles and handguns.