The Rifles kid

Boy nabbed for buying air rifles

Ballistic seizure: Perak Customs director Datuk Mohd Nasir Said (second from left) showing off one of the air rifles bought by the student and seized at the Ipoh post office. -Bernama

IPOH: He's just 15 and still a schoolboy, but with a liking for guns. He ordered five air rifles complete with ammunition online.

But they didn't get past the post office. The secondary school student was arrested after the Ipoh post office found the five air rifles with the brass pellets that he had ordered without an import permit.

The Perak Customs Department seized the rifles worth RM2,045 with unpaid duty of RM879 on Saturday.

The post office detected the weapons after scanning the parcels, which came from a foreign country, said Perak Customs director Datuk Mohd Nasir Said.

“The boy described the contents of the parcels as toys to fool the authorities. He admitted that the parcels belonged to him when he was arrested at his home the same day,” Mohd Nasir added. He was released on bail under Section 116 of the Customs Act 1967 with investigations ongoing.

“The air rifle is categorised as a weapon because it can cause fatal injuries to animals and humans, especially with the brass pellets. Therefore, an import permit with approval from the police is needed,” Mohd Nasie told a press conference yesterday.

He said the department was working with police to find out the boy's financial source as it was learned that he wired the money for the weapons.

“We do not rule out the possibility that a few friends chipped in to buy the weapons.”

Also seized were pellets that served as ammunition for the guns. —Bernama

Mohd Nasir declined to identify the originating country or the website through which the boy bought the weapons.

This is a very serious matter as the boy could be charged under Section 135 (1)(a) of the Customs Act 1967 for importing weapons without a police permit, which carries a fine of up to 20 times the value of the contraband or up to three years' jail, or both, he said.

Mohd Nasir added that the boy could also be charged under Section 36 (1) of the Firearms Act 1960 for possessing fake weapons which carries a maximum jail term of one year and a fine.

Mohd Nasir urged parents to monitor their children's activities online to curb any attempt to buy such items, including fake weapons.

He said that this was the sixth case in the state since January involving the importing of weapons or fake weapons without permit by purchasing the items online, declaring them as toys, dog training tools or spare parts and receiving them through the post office.

“It is a serious offence as even fake weapons which use rubber pellets can be modified to become lethal,” he added.