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17 charged with gun smuggling in Shanghai trial
By Zhao Wen |
November 28, 2012, Wednesday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
SEVENTEEN suspects who were involved in cross-border weapon smuggling went on trial today at the Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court.
The handcuffed suspects entered the courtroom one by one. About 50 people, mostly relatives of the suspects, filled all the seats in the public gallery half an hour before the hearing began.
They are charged with illegal smuggling, possession and sales of firearms and ammunition.
Most of the 17 suspects are gun enthusiasts. They were arrested in June this year after a Sino-US joint operation busted this cross-border weapon smuggling network.
Their leaders, former US National Guard staff sergeant Joseph Debose and his conspirators Lin Zhifu and Li Lilan were tried in the US.
According to Chinese prosecutors, lead suspect Wang Ting, a 32-year-old Taizhou native, received 48 guns and 4,585 bullets hidden in electronic keyboards and speakers in 20 shipments from New York City between July 2010 and August 2011.
Wang, acting as a middleman, sold 23 guns and 2,156 bullets to other suspects and collected 1.28 million yuan (US$205,568) for Lin, prosecutors said.
Wang said he didn't benefit from the trade and sent all the money to a bank account provided by Lin's sister Lin Mei in Fujian Province.
Lin Mei, who was tried after Wang, argued that she knew nothing about the gun trade. "My brother told me the money was his investment. He asked me to send the money to the US after changing it into dollars," Lin told the court.
The trial lasted a whole day and will continue tomorrow, the court said.
The handcuffed suspects entered the courtroom one by one. About 50 people, mostly relatives of the suspects, filled all the seats in the public gallery half an hour before the hearing began.
They are charged with illegal smuggling, possession and sales of firearms and ammunition.
Most of the 17 suspects are gun enthusiasts. They were arrested in June this year after a Sino-US joint operation busted this cross-border weapon smuggling network.
Their leaders, former US National Guard staff sergeant Joseph Debose and his conspirators Lin Zhifu and Li Lilan were tried in the US.
According to Chinese prosecutors, lead suspect Wang Ting, a 32-year-old Taizhou native, received 48 guns and 4,585 bullets hidden in electronic keyboards and speakers in 20 shipments from New York City between July 2010 and August 2011.
Wang, acting as a middleman, sold 23 guns and 2,156 bullets to other suspects and collected 1.28 million yuan (US$205,568) for Lin, prosecutors said.
Wang said he didn't benefit from the trade and sent all the money to a bank account provided by Lin's sister Lin Mei in Fujian Province.
Lin Mei, who was tried after Wang, argued that she knew nothing about the gun trade. "My brother told me the money was his investment. He asked me to send the money to the US after changing it into dollars," Lin told the court.
The trial lasted a whole day and will continue tomorrow, the court said.
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