Smoking gun: woman out on bail after mailing gun from U.S. to Taiwan
2015/05/09 21:59:37
Ruger LCR revolver. Photo from Wikipedia
Taipei, May 9 (CNA) A Taiwanese woman with U.S. citizenship has been released on bail, but barred from leaving Taiwan, after mailing a loaded gun and bullets from the U.S. to Tainan earlier this week, investigators said Saturday.
The woman, identified only by her surname Wang, has been granted release on NT$100,000 (US$3,238) bail after questioning by Tainan prosecutors. Prosecutors, however, imposed a soft form of home confinement on Wang and barred her from leaving Taiwan.
Wang, 55, who owns a gun license in the U.S., alarmed customs personnel Tuesday when a parcel she sent from California arrived in Tainan. Customs personnel found a Ruger LCR revolver and 70 bullets in the parcel during a random check.
Unaware that the gun was loaded, the personnel inadvertently fired the gun. Fortunately, the bullet hit a file cabinet, leaving no one injured.
Customs then informed the Investigation Bureau's Tainan branch of the incident, who traced the parcel to Wang before working with police to arrest her at her rented residence in Tainan Thursday.
Wang, a jewelry designer, bought the revolver April 4 in the U.S. and mailed it along with the bullets to Tainan as a gift April 27, investigators said.
The woman, whose household registration is in Taichung, told investigators she bought the gun for self-defense against her "enemies." She did not provide information on who these "enemies" were.
Investigators said they had notified the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which represents U.S. interests in Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic ties, considering Wang is also a U.S. citizen, but Wang did not seek help from the AIT.
(By Chang Jung-hsiang and Scully Hsiao)
