CBP announced that it intercepted and seized an illicit shipment containing about 5,600 firearm parts from China at the Los Angeles and Long Beach seaport complex.
The agency said it coordinated the seizure with assistance from import specialists at its Machinery Center of Excellence and Expertise and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The agency said the firearm parts, which included sights, stocks, muzzles, brakes and buffer kits, arrived in three separate shipments from China. The value of the parts is estimated to be $378,225.
ATF investigators determined that the firearm parts were a violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. These regulations impose U.S. import restrictions on certain countries, such as China, on which the U.S. maintains an arms embargo.
CBP did not identify the Chinese shipper or U.S. importer of the firearm parts shipments in its Aug. 22 press release.
In fiscal year 2018, CBP’s Office of Field Operations seized 266,279 firearms, firearm parts, ammunition, fireworks and explosives at U.S. ports of entry. “These interceptions represent an increase of 18.4% from the previous year,” the agency said.
