A man suspected of attempting to smuggle ammunitions from Yangon to Muse, Shan State, was arrested this week at the entrance to the Pyay Gardens housing complex in Sanchaung Township.
Police were first alerted to the suspected smuggler’s existence after two boxes containing 9,500 bullets were unexpectedly discovered at a bus station in Hlegu Township, just outside the Yangon municipal area.
The boxes had been brought to the bus station on Sept. 30 by an unidentified youth, who gave K30,000 to a bus ticket vendor as payment to deliver the boxes to Muse, located on Myanmar’s border with China. The youth also gave the vendor a phone number.
However, the boxes were left behind because they were too heavy. The vendor tried to call the youth, but no one answered the phone.
The vendor instructed his employees to store the boxes in his shop, but they were too heavy to be moved. Now suspicious, he asked his wife to open the boxes, which turned out to be full of bullets. The couple called the police.
Police found 3,780 bullets in one box and 5,724 bullets in the other. They were sent to an official ordnance depot. A case was opened against the unidentified smuggler under Section 19 of the Arms Act at the Hlegu police station.
Following an investigation, police arrested Hlaingthaya resident Zaw Zaw Htet Lu in Sanchaung on Oct. 1. They found another 100 bullets at his home. He is now facing the charges under the Arms Act.
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