Five home-made guns seized along with military-grade night-vision devices and ammunition in raids across Hong Kong
- Eleven locations, including two shops in Mong Kok, were raided, and three war game and airgun enthusiasts were arrested
- Police say ‘guns are not capable of firing but could be converted into lethal weapons after modification’
Five home-made guns were seized along with three military-grade night-vision devices, a silencer, 26 empty cartridges, three magazines and six pepper sprays following the arrest of three Hongkongers in a series of raids across the city, police said on Tuesday.
The guns, consisting of three pistols and two assault rifles, were made of gun parts that were suspected to have been airmailed into the city from the United States, a police source said. He said more than 50 gun parts were needed to assemble a pistol.
“We believe the seized guns are not capable of firing,” the source said, “but they could be converted into lethal weapons after modification”.
The weapons have been sent to the Forensic Firearms Examination Bureau for testing.
The source said there was no indication to suggest that the weapons would have been used to attack police officers.
“The three suspects are war game and airgun enthusiasts. We believe the weapons were for their own collection,” he said.
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In Hong Kong, the possession of firearms or ammunition without a permit carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in jail.
The seizures were made on Monday when officers from the organised crime and triad bureau raided 11 locations, including two air gun shops, in Mong Kok and arrested the three men aged 23 to 63.
The eldest man, the owner of an airgun shop in Mong Kok, was picked up in his New Territories home. The two other suspects are an employee of another air gun shop and a delivery worker.
As of Tuesday evening, the suspects were being held for questioning and none of them had been charged.
Senior Superintendent Steve Li Kwa-wah of the bureau said police were investigating the origin of the firearms and their intended use.
He said importing and exporting military-grade night-vision devices without a licence was in breach of the Import and Export (Strategic Commodities) Regulations that carried a maximum penalty of two years in prison.
Li added: “It seems that they are just guns made of parts, but the penalties could be as heavy as the real and common firearms and ammunition. It would be more serious if these firearms and ammunition were made into much more lethal weapons after modifications, so police will be very concerned about these.”
An investigation was going on and further arrests were possible.
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Following several cases of seizures of guns and ammunition since December last year, the force enhanced intelligence gathering and stepped up enforcement action against crimes related to firearms and ammunition.
On March 26, police uncovered a makeshift arms factory that was being used for producing home-made bullets and explosives near a hiking trail, and arrested four men. Inside the factory, officers seized 800 empty cartridges, 200 bullet heads, suspected gunpowder and a press machine along with chemicals.
Between December and January, officers seized four handguns, an AR-15 assault rifle and about 1,000 rounds of ammunition in four cases. In March, police found three pistols and HK$2.4 million (US$309,650) worth of drugs in Sham Shui Po.
Following the seizures, the customs department planned to buy 3D scanners and bring in sniffer dogs to tackle the smuggling of firearms, ammunition and explosives.
Additional reporting by Danny Mok
