Diary of a Criminal Investigator-Chapter 353: A False Alarm

Clatter.

The ladder fell to the ground, and Zhang Chao and Ren Qiang pounced on Zhang Wang, followed by five or six big men rushing in.

"Hands and feet!"

"Don’t move!"

"Cuff him!"

"Search him!"

Seven or eight people quickly tied Zhang Wang up like a rice dumpling.

The others, without needing instructions, were already searching the store.

"Brother Qiang, over here!"

A colleague searching behind the counter soon found something.

Twenty minutes later.

Long and short guns were laid out in front of Zhang Wang.

Zhang Chao was examining each gun.

"Officer, I’m selling imitation guns, really, they’re not real guns!"

Zhang Wang now felt like he could die.

He’s just selling some imitation guns, why did so many police have to come, even pointing real guns at his head?

Nowadays, business is tough, especially for brick-and-mortar stores, with online sales hitting them hard.

When Zhang Wang first started, his dad gave him some money to open a toy store in front of a school.

Logically, a toy store in front of a school should do well, but business was poor.

Later research showed that kids today rarely buy toys from physical stores—they check them out there and then buy online.

Zhang Wang couldn’t afford the high rent, so he canceled the lease near the school and opened a toy store at the entrance of his residential area.

Although there wasn’t a lot of foot traffic, there were many young children in the complex.

Grandparents taking the kids out would often buy immediately, unable to wait for an online purchase.

So, the toy store gradually managed to operate, making only three to five thousand yuan a month in profit.

"Two years ago, I went to Happy Valley, and a friend of mine brought an imitation toy gun."

Zhang Wang began to explain how he got onto the path of selling imitation guns, "At the time, I simply found it interesting and borrowed it to play for a few days."

"Later through his channel, I got to know the e-commerce site he bought guns from, and we contacted them directly."

"Then I started dealing and selling imitation guns here."

"Officer, this thing just looks real, but it only fires plastic pellets; the manufacturer conducted tests, the muzzle energy is 1.5 joules, but the firearm is defined at 1.8 joules."

"Technically, this is really just a toy, not a gun."

A dozen big men, three watching Zhang Wang, others were searching around.

While Zhang Wang confessed, the whole toy store was basically turned upside down.

After confirming there were no other findings, Ren Qiang breathed a long sigh of relief.

Although they made a big deal out of it, they didn’t actually find any gun-related crimes.

But on the other hand, not finding anything is actually best.

If they had found something, Zhang Wang would just be a middle link. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Then there’d be more to handle about where the guns finally went, or the origin.

Now, with just imitation guns, the case is much simpler.

"Zhang Wang, tell us how you sell them, who are the buyers?"

Ren Qiang picked up an imitation handgun, expertly dismantled it, and pulled out the spring inside, "Your gun, although it doesn’t meet the firearm standards, if you replaced this spring with a thicker one and modified it, who knows."

You have to admit, the imitation guns in Zhang Wang’s possession are quite realistic, most of the parts are made of metal.

They feel heavy, and from Ren Qiang’s perspective, there is a lot of potential for modification.

Even, just by switching out certain key components, it could really become a real gun.

"I’ve only sold these to people I know, they’re all friends, I only sell to acquaintances, we all get along well, and I have a list here."

Zhang Wang pointed to a diary on the counter, "At the back, they’re all listed, and I’ve sold less than a hundred guns in total."

"A hundred? How much did you pay for them, and how much are you selling them for?"

"The purchase price depends on the type of gun, imitation handguns are cheaper, costing about 200 yuan each."

"I sell them for a thousand yuan apiece."

"That expensive?"

"Not really, the ones I get are the most realistic ones you can see on the market, a thousand yuan is not expensive."

"For larger submachine guns, rifles, the purchase price ranges from five hundred to a thousand, if I sell them, the cheaper ones go for three thousand, the more expensive ones for ten thousand."

There’s no need to arrest anyone.

Even if there was, it’d be the local police station’s responsibility.

As for the items...

It’s not the Criminal Investigation Team’s place to confiscate them, as Zhang Wang said, these things are toys, not guns.

But according to security regulations, possessing and selling or manufacturing imitation guns is also illegal.

The imitation guns in Zhang Wang’s possession, aside from not being able to fire live ammunition, in terms of quality and feel, are basically indistinguishable from real guns.

Hand over the people to the police station, and they’ll find the professional bodies to identify these imitation guns.

If it’s really as Zhang Wang says, and the gun’s muzzle energy for firing pellets is below 1.8 joules, then that’s okay, the charges may be lighter.

But if it exceeds or reaches that, it can be identified as a real gun, and he could be charged with illegal selling or possession of a firearm.

This charge is quite serious.

As for those who bought imitation guns from Zhang Wang, they also have to face punishment.

If the imitation gun is identified as a real gun, that’s illegal possession of a firearm, if it’s just an imitation gun, that’s somewhat better.

After the case was completely sorted out, Ren Qiang called Qin Yong.

"Confirm they’re imitation guns?"

"We searched the toy store and the target person’s home, we can confirm he was selling imitation guns."

"In total, he sold for two years, 102 guns sold, all destinations are very clear, after handing over to the local police station, they just need to track and investigate all of them."

Qin Yong, who was waiting for news at the Criminal Investigation Team, also breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as they aren’t real guns, that’s good.

Qin Yong had previously experienced a gun-related case.

It wasn’t a gun trafficking case, but a police officer who just joined the force and had been newly issued a gun, lost it at a wedding ceremony.

That case was over twenty years ago, back when Qin Yong had just started working.

At that time, gun management wasn’t as strict as it is now, after police stations issued guns, they could be assigned to individuals and taken home.

Back then, in addition to the gun, the magazine contained six bullets.

Six bullets, which means the gun could potentially take six lives.

This incident even alerted the central department at that time.

The entire bureau was mobilized, trying to find this gun. The then-police officer was nearly in a mental breakdown.

The gun was lost right around the time of the Spring Festival, when the bureau issued safety bonuses.

Back then, bonuses were paid in cash. After this incident, there was no safety bonus, everyone had to return the money they just received.

More than twenty years ago, the economy wasn’t like today, many were counting on the money to have a better New Year.

In the end, it fell through.

Luckily, the gun was eventually recovered.

It was stolen by that officer’s brother-in-law, who said he was curious and wanted to play with it for a few days.

After hanging up the phone, Qin Yong lay back on the sofa, his suspended heart settling down.

As long as nothing happened, that’s good.