VietNamNet Bridge – Weapons of all kinds, including the most modern models, are rampantly offered for sale on the Internet.

At first, it is likely that this public sale of weapons is only popular in foreign countries, but it turns out to be in Vietnam. The question is where do the weapons come from?

Visiting online trading websites of Vietnam like rongb ..., Muar etc., raov, shop… one can find a lot of advertisements of weapons, accompanied with illustration pictures and video clips that describe in details the weapons and how to use them.

Under the guidance of an advertising link (address in Tay Ho district, Hanoi,) a reporter called the phone number in the advertisement. A man answered the call, introducing himself as Van Yen.

The man advertised that he sells various types of weapons for self-defense, personal security for individuals and companies.

He offered the prices for some kinds of weapons. Specifically, with VND2-5 million ($100-250,) customers can buy an electric baton, with three sections that can fold into one; an electronic “mushroom” which is only 5cm long, but it can discharge electricity in a diameter of 8m, with 1.300kV voltage, an electric pen which is capable of firing 6m away or a flashlight that can discharge electricity for 14m far. All of these things are imported products.

The reporter expressed his great attention to weapons so Van Yen continued to show off other kinds of weapons from M35 helmet of the Nazis, priced VND2.5 million ($120); U.S. PASGT bulletproof helmet worth VND1.5 million ($75); mask with 3 holes, terrorism style, priced VND450,000 ($20); gunner glasses; PSO-1 viewfinder mounted on Dragunov SVD guns of the former Soviet Union that have night vision function worth VND6 million ($300) etc.

The reporter was stunned of the offerings, but he tried to seem "calm" to avoid suspicion. He said he wanted to buy 4 air pistols of 9kg and 12kg to shoot birds and 2 K54 guns for self-defense.

Van Yen said: "I have all of these but the prices are different, depending on the origin. Products from Czech are more expensive than those from Taiwan and China. The price is from VND6-VND7 million ($300-350) for a 9kg air pistol, VND9-10 million ($450-500) for a 12kg air pistol. K54 is hard to find so it is a little expensive, about VND16 million ($800) a gun."

After making a bargain, Van Yen instructed the reporter the form of delivery. He absolutely did not let the customer to receive products at his place. The form of the transaction is "ship", i.e. transfer and delivery. There are two types of delivery: for familiar and new customers. Familiar customers have to pay 25 percent of the value of goods in advance, to the banking account of the seller while new customers have to pay 50 percent in advance. After money is transferred, customers will receive their goods through a deliverer.

Weapons and criminal cases

Recently, in many provinces and cities across the country, a lot of criminal cases have occurred, in which offenders used illegal weapons.

At about 1.40pm on July 10 this year, at a restaurant in Tu Liem district, Hanoi, a serious gun blast happened, leaving many people injured, including a pregnant woman. According to the police, this was a debt chasing case.

On August 17, police of Ngo Quyen district, Hai Phong city, broke a criminal gang that used weapons to cause insecurity and disorder in the city. This group consists of five members, who ran pawn shops, worked as debt collectors and protectors for private firms. This gang always used illegal weapons in disputes with other gangs.

Illegal weapons are not only used for self-defense, they are used to fight against the law enforcement forces.

For example, at 2.30pm on October 2, at the intersection of Hai Ba Trung - Hang Bai, Hanoi, a group of police officers led by Lieutenant Colonel Ha Van Tuan detected a luxury car with illegal weapons, including one fence, a pepper spray and one nunchaku. When being stopped, young men in the car used various ways to threaten the police but finally they were arrested.

On July 26, police of Hoa Binh Province arrested Ta Van Hung, a former member of a robbery gang in Bac Giang province, for drug trafficking. Hung shot policemen with his guns. Searching his car, the police found a lot of weapons, including 5 guns and 120 bullets of various kinds and 21 spikes.

Stronger measures needed

As reported by the 141 forces of the Ha Noi Police Agency (the special task forces including traffic police, criminal police and mobile police), gun users are not only criminals and gangsters but also young people.

In fact, homemade and pen guns can cause serious injury to the victim. And after shooting cases, the majority of perpetrators are arrested and judged. However, the act of possession of guns is still limited to administrative sanctions.

Weapons are the concern of criminals. Therefore, the prevention of weapon trading, possession is a very important task. In addition to call for people to hand over weapons and explosives, the police have made a very strong hand in the prevention of this crime.    

The Task Force 141 of Ha Noi police was established to check and seize weapons from any suspicious subject travelling on the road. This force has seized more than 1,700 weapons of all types, including: 8 military guns, 48 handmade guns, nearly 200 bullets; 503 knives and swords, 116 pepper sprays, 161 batons, etc.

In recent years, the police also detected a lot of weapon trading cases, seizing 2,219 guns; 901 bombs and mines, 1,003 artillery shells, 37,889 rounds, 157,381 detonators and 2,064 simple weapons.

Only in five years (2006 - 2011), the law enforcement agencies have investigated, prosecuted 1238 cases with 2,664 defendants on charges related to using weapons and explosives. This shows that this type of crime is still very complex and it has tended to increase.

With the dangerous nature of this crime, the authorities should take strong measures to prevent and strictly handle people who store weapons and dismantle the "source" of supply of weapons. In particular, online sale of weapons must be controlled.

Translated by Le Ha