Taiwan police have confiscated illegal firearms worth at least US$1.34 million shipped through Hong Kong in the biggest seizure of weapons headed to the island in 10 years.
Officers also arrested six people but none of them was the gunrunning mastermind, a spokesman for the force said on Saturday.
“The firearms – 109 in total along with 12,378 rounds of ammunition – were found inside two large injection moulding machines in a container,” Criminal Investigation Bureau officer Chen Kuan-liang told the Post.
The illegal firearms were shipped by a Guangzhou-based courier to northeast Taiwan through Hong Kong.
“Customs agents became suspicious of the shipment after it arrived in Keelung Harbour and went through customs on April 29,” Chen said.
They immediately notified police after finding the two machines contained the contraband, he added.
Asked if the weapons had anything to do with Hong Kong or mainland China, the officer said the possibility would not be ruled out although the likelihood would be very low.
