UN Company raided by Hong Kong Police
 

Hope nobody ordered from UNCompany recently. LOL!!!!!

Video link:
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/realti...30425/51369422

The shop will not be open. I went by there on Saturday night and it is closed. They are not permitted to be reopened again. There will be for sure more raids coming. It is not just about guns shooting over the limit. They have also seized goods with Hong Kong Customs for trade Mark, and copyright infringement.
The whole family that works there were arrested and held for at least 2 days in jail. The police have long waited for the right opportunity to hit these stores, now I am 120% sure from very reliable inside sources that they will raid the other shops also.

Another thing about the warehouse in Chai Wan. That warehouse is a shared warehouse with UNCompany and King Arms. So really good chance King Arms will have stock problem also. UNCompany is a family owned business, which has run for 15 years. Highly doubtful they will ever open again.

Sad to see a family and their company ruind over what seems like just tryin to make a few extra bucks on upgraded and trademarked guns. Hopefully they will be able to overcome this and if not reopen maybe be able to open a new shop.
I thought they didnt have any copyright issues in china?

The things people will do to make quick cash :( Hong Kong is a different story with copyright and all.

Ugh I sure hope some stores in MK won't get raided...I need to pick up some gear T___T

Update:

After a long chat with four airsoft companies in HK in the last two hours, we have confirmed the following. It would appear a HK resident purchased an airsoft sniper rifle in January 2013, then upgraded it to what is classed as a firearm under HK law. He was then caught sniping at people in the street. On investigation the police found the airsoft sniper rifle was purchased domestically in HK, and therefore have searched several companies, including one of our suppliers, to make sure no airsoft gun breaks HK local law. This assists in the prosecution as the man will not be able to claim he purchased the gun already upgraded. Therefore he is responsible for the more serious firearms offences. For those who don't know HK, there are around 30 medium and large size airsoft companies and four were searched at this point. Therefore, business with HK has not been affected overall (although there will be some short delays), and will be back to normal with all companies by the 29th. Our UK and European wholesalers have not been affected.

Theres a huge debate going on already on Arnies as well as HKofftheGrid on Facebook but thank you for posting it here again stealth :)

Told my brother about this and he started the thread off arnies about this issue. Ive been a supporter of UNco as i bought my first AEG from them :) also on friendly terms with lots of the staff there so i hope all these issues get resolved...

Heh.. I tried to post this here 2 days back. But just wouldn't let me.

Anyways, this is really bad. I just home I can get what I want before it gets worse.

The guns seized in that raid is about 4,000 in total. From my source who happens to be one of those arrested at the warehouse and spent 2 days in jail. Charges are pending and it is not going to be easy for the family. So far out of the warehouse and store inventory. Seventy-two guns are certified to be shooting in the real firearms range which carries a charge. Seventy-two charges at 14 years per charge is nothing to laugh about. The problems it brings now is this. Hong Kong Customs is now involved.
They want to know why these items are being shipped out of Hong Kong. Since it is against the law to ship airsoft items and parts out of Hong Kong. They are seeing who is helping them inside Hong Kong Post and also UPS. Fedex it seems won't take guns, but will take small parts. There are criminal charges for importing these items out of Hong Kong, even though it seems it was never really enforced before.
The second issue is also why China made guns are getting into Hong Kong. Airsoft parts and guns are illegal in China. They carry even stiffer sentences than Hong Kong.
My friend says the KingArms warehouse and UNCompany warehouse has been completely decimated. Loosing four thosand guns is not a good thing.
Hong Kong Customs is also realising the huge problem now of how many copied/illegally cloned items there are in the UNCompany warehouse. They will most likely loose this to destruction. Seizure of illegally cloned items are a big bonus in this investigation.
Loosing at least $200,000 USD in inventory will shut any medium sized business down. Plus the realty of facing 72 charges of illegal firearms, with each charge carrying a 14 year sentence. Plus the seizure of items alreadsy in the shipping bay for overseas customers. My friend figures at least 100 orders that day has been lost to the police.
This shop and whoever bought from UNCompany is most likely finished. You most likely won't see your money ever again.
More raids are sure to come. Evidently they are "scouting" Mongkok gun area now and some other shops are very likely to face the same situation now.

I just placed an order with them at the beginning of this week, thank god I didn't pay for it yet.

Does this mean will see a slow down in gun and parts availability in NA?

That sucks, hope they get back on their feet and all.. was anywhere else raided?

AFAIK there are lot of companies that are run out of Taiwan so G&G, VFC, Ino, Guarder, HurricanE, Modify etc. shouldn't be affected but the fact that "airsoft/hobby street" in HK got raided for "illegal guns" will put a decent sized dent in availability and supply of some guns.

News article doesn't make it sound like a huge crackdown

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_d...=20130426&fc=7

I have never heard of this before... like ever... I do not know of a law in HK that says it is against the law to ship airsoft items and parts "OUT" of hong kong.

Is there any legal document you can quote? I have not seen any document that specifically says but here is a doc that specifies fire arm laws in HK i can't understand it fully since the translation is confusing maybe someone can care to dissect it and tell us but as far as I am reading it looks legal as long as you have a licence to do so?

http://www.legislation.gov.hk/blis_i...3?OpenDocument

Because you stated that it is against the law to ship airsoft items and parts out of HK, what about all the big companies like CA, G&P, ARES? they are all HK companies that deal around the world so wouldn't they be breaking the law as well? I'm sure that they've done their research and there isn't an issue in exporting airsoft items and parts......UN has been around for 15 years...if it was law breaking to exporting airsoft I'm sure the customs control would have done something about it... just what Im thinking...even if its been lax the amount of airsoft being exported, I'm sure at least one or two have gotten into their hands to be inspected right? i mean thousands of airsoft guns are shipped out by different companies everyday.... Im just saying.....

I may be wrong but please I would really like to know..

PS. I am in no way being hostile just would really like to know... incase you take my msg in a wrong way

I hope things get sorted out. I use UNCompany quit often too!

Update:

I wrote to UNCompany and asked them about the rumors and such and their reply was that it was untrue and business is as usual.

Here is a quote I received from them.

Dear sir,



There is so many fake rumors on the internet, we think time can show you the truth.

Don't worry guys, we are still opening, and our service is nothing changed.

You can just place the order through the website, we will send you the quotation.



Best Regards,

Sales,

UN Company.

Also I placed not to long ago about a week or two ago for a Madbull PWS SCAR Rail Extension for the Scar and that came in extremely fast. It caught me off guard to hear this. I'm just glad to that UNCompany is still open for business.

So for folks like me who were worried its all good :)

Just as a tangent, there has been more and more pressure to crack down on illegal fakes in China. This applies across a spectrum from luxury consumer goods like fake Rolexes and LV purses to industrial equipment.
Fake watch dealers in Shanghai have been driven from openly selling these in stores to pulling tourists into warehouse and mall bathrooms and dark alleys.

I think it should be clarified that buy airsoft in HK is different than buying airsoft in China.

Absolutely two different sets of laws.

As well, I am pretty sure its legal to export airsoft products from HK as long as its fake or below the 2J limit. Full guns are another issue though.

I thought as long as it shoots over 366fps with .2g bb and under the 2j limit, it's legal for them to export to canada or.. for us to import to canada. Or am I mistaken?

If you guys believe this you deserve to get ripped off. From my very reliable sources. Their website is going to pulled down soon in Hong Kong> They are looking for their server and hopes it is in Hong Kong. Also their bank accounts are being searched for. DON"T GET RIPPED OFF. They are not in business. Their store is shut and they have no firearms in stock. The warehouse is taped with police tape. There are videos and new prints on them in this link. Don't send them any money.

they confirmed on their facebook page that they are open

So far, asides from the one minor news article, all I'm seeing is hearsay.

noooooooo

Can someone post pictures of the closed store and police tape?

My take on this would be, if HK customs is anything like customs here they do nto have the manpower to control and inspect everything that comes in or out, approximatly 3% of all the cargo coming into the country, and they expect 90% of the travelling public lie to some degree on their declarations. Its a game of Russian roulette ... You can do whatever you want, untill you get caught.

the fact that UN got screwed is besides the point, he said that exporting airsoft items and parts is Illegal. That is the one thing that I am extremely surprised about. i have taken plenty of airsoft products such as parts and pieces on in my check in luggage. I got called out and had my luggage checked by the airport police in HK whom were armed to the teeth. I had a ton of Pmags i bought to bring back to Toronto but when they saw it was for airsoft they let me go...Im sure many people have been checked before. I had friends who got checked because they brought a bunch of full M4 uppers and yet they never got in any trouble. It has nothing to do with Man power because when they actually inspect the products its completely fine and they let it pass through....

UN got scrwed because of the 2J power limit thing that made those guns to be considered as firearms. I really do not think Exporting airsoft is deemed Illegal in HK.... That is the one thing I want to know for sure because the evidence points to that fact that exporting is completely legal as to my knowledge in this matter.

Why would they say on their website that "shipping and enquiry reply" will be delayed and it is offering 12% off any order placed before April 29? .......

I think phlouder's brother (I think his username here is "Noveske" or something like that) lives in HK, if he does visit this site I'm sure he'll be able to provide first hand info.

This is two totally different things.
Yes for us it has to be over 366 and under 5.7j that is all.
Their 2j limit is a totally different thing. And has nothing to do with our ability to import their products.
Also ill add that many china clone companies make bolt actions that shoot over 465fps (2.01j) tho im not sure if they are HK based or mainland you can bet those products are made for export only.
Ill use Japan as an example. They have a 1j limit and as far as i know they are not even aloud to buy or sell parts within Japan that could make a gun shoot over 1j (ie springs) BUT some of the best uograde parts come from Japan (Laylax for example) but tbey make 1 set of springs for local market (ranging from 0.5j to 1j there ard 3 springs in the VSR line) and then they make springs up to "190" for the vsr its 650fps and 3.93j they are made for export only. Even some relutable shops in Japan will preupgrade guns to shoot over 366fps for us to import. Thats how i got my tm vsr10 only catch is you have to buy the spring and ship it to them.
Sry to stray off topic OP. Id say it is likely they are shut down and itbis best to just wait and see what comes of this. There are a buttload of other places to buy stuffs in the meantime.

Their website was a pain in the butt :P

Noveske - I met up with the guy before ;)

This thread is starting to get alittle diluted on what can and cannot be done from Hong Kong.

The point of this thread was to let people know of what's going on and how it may affect them.

Haha Chiba Thats cool Yes noveske is my older brother!!, as for UNco he said that as far as he knows there is no Police tape around the area and does not know for sure whether it is going to open again or not. when he saw it it was pretty late at night after a night out and he was passing through. WIll post news when he lets me know in a week or two whether its going to be open or not.

Are you talking about the actual retail store location on whether or not it will re-open or the website?

I e-mailed them and they confirmed with me that business is going on as usual.

Chances are that they are probably going to open up again, since there is no police tape around the retail store. I meant the retail store LOL....I'll ask my brother to see whats up with UN for now. not sure when their retail store is opening up again but if their website operations are still running than chances they might be but still too soon to say

Although the police seized 742 guns, I doubt UN owns that inventory. Since it is a shared warehouse with King Arms, these guns have not been sold and at any point will need to be modified for export depending on the country it is headed for. Did it say in the news that UN is selling all guns over 465fps?

It is kind of saying the Evike has illegal guns in part of their warehouse without "orange" tips, and not saying it has been converted for export to Canada.

Guns can't be legally exported out of the US without the orange tips. Please don't confuse the issues, specially if you aren't up to speed on the specifics.

UN Retail is open for business.

I am in HK, I can confirm.

You will need to wait till the trial ends for them to be shuttered I think, as there is a lot of interpretation of law and compliance or non-compliance that needs to be established before anyone is found guilty. UN is a long established company with a good reputation. Having dealt with them a lot over the past three months I can assure you they are well aware of the law and wouldn't sell any gun firing over the limit knowingly. THough negligence isn't a defense, it may gain them some sympathy from the judge.

Hong Kong is a land of law and order after all.

depending on how the law is worded, it could be perfectly legal for those guns to be over 2J if they were meant for export.

in japan they have the 1J limitation as a law (before it's considered a firearm I think), but stores that have a special permit/license for exportation can legally modify a TM gun to shoot over that 1J limit for export customers only. The catch is that international customers have to provide the parts to do that, since I believe even the parts are hard to get in japan since there's no market for >1J guns.

HK though is a different story, so we'll have to wait for the details to emerge, and then trial before anything specific is known.

That is the comment I was saying above when I was comparing Evike to UN. Evike has prepped none orange tipped guns for export to Canada which are not for local sale. Some kid get charged for a gun bought from Evike with and now has no orange tip, and Evike gets nailed for the Canadian inventory.

Same reason, a lot of guns in HK are being exported and these could be ones upgraded in advance for export. Kids in HK that buy the 1J guns then upgrade it to above 2J and is caught shooting unsuspecting people, mislead the police into thinking that the export 2J inventory is being sold locally. The kids that are caught tell the police that they bought the guns already with the 2J+. You can understand why the TM VSR10 has factory pinned the cylinder.

You do not need an orange tip for Canadian Airsoft guns.