China grants bail to FedEx pilot with pellets in luggage

Source:Global Times Published: 2019/9/20 16:46:43

China grants bail to FedEx pilot caught with pellets in luggage


Workers unload packages at the FedEx Express station in Nashville, Tennessee, US. Photo: IC



The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed on Friday the detention of a FedEx assistant pilot who was found with 681 air gun pellets at Guangzhou airport, saying it has reported the case to the US Consulate in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province. 

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a press briefing the incident is being investigated. 

The suspect, as assistant pilot, arrived in Guangzhou on September 11, and planned to fly from Guangzhou to Hong Kong the following day. The local customs authority detained him for allegedly smuggling ammunition, and later released him on bail, the spokesperson said. 

FedEx confirmed early Friday morning that Chinese authorities in Guangzhou detained and later released one of its pilots on bail after an "item" was found in his luggage prior to a commercial flight.

"We are working with the appropriate authorities to gain a better understanding of the facts," the company said in a statement sent to the Global Times.  

The statement was made after the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Chinese authorities had detained a FedEx pilot for allegedly carrying nonmetallic pellets used in low-power replica air guns in a checked bag. 

The report identified the pilot as Todd A. Hohn, a former US Air Force pilot.  

Hohn was detained a week ago while waiting for a flight to Hong Kong after flying deliveries throughout Asia to the Guangzhou airport, a FedEx regional hub, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

China has strict control of guns and firearms as part of the country's public security management system. Chinese laws state that those who illegally manufacture, trade, transport, mail or store guns, ammunition or explosives shall be give a jail term of at least three years, or life imprisonment or death in serious cases. 


Newspaper headline: China grants bail to FedEx pilot caught with pellets in luggage


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