US-China gun smuggling investigation leads to 23 arrests

Chinese officials announced police had arrested 23 people on charges of gun trafficking following a joint Chinese-American investigation, AP reported. Last August, a Chinese suspect was detained at Shanghai’s Pudong Airport after attempting to claim a delivery package with handguns inside, triggering a joint US and Chinese investigation into a cross-border gun smuggling syndicate. Last month, US police arrested three people accused of shipping guns with defaced serial numbers to China. The sting operation in China took place in 16 provinces and municipalities, and resulted in the confiscation of 93 guns and over 50,000 bullets. “This level of cooperation between American law enforcement officials and authorities inside mainland China is a sign of optimism and could lead to even greater law enforcement cooperation in future,” the US Embassy in Beijing said in a statement.