HOHHOT -- Chinese police have detained 11 suspects on charges of selling imitation guns replicated as popular models such as Ak-47s and AWP sniper rifles.

Police in Hohhot, capital of northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, along with officers of other cities, have confiscated 120 emulational guns and 300,000 rounds of ammunition, said He Baohua, deputy director of the Xincheng District Branch of the Hohhot Municipal Public Security Bureau, on Wednesday.

Through online monitoring and surveillance, Xincheng police detained a 29-year-old suspect surnamed Yan in an apartment in Hohhot in April, where they also seized 20 imitation guns and 250,000 rounds of ammunition, He said.

Yan confessed that he had bought those guns and ammunition on the Internet from sellers in southern Guangdong Province and central Henan Province for low prices. He then sold them for profit to buyers in Inner Mongolia and other cities including Beijing and Tianjin.

Yan, a graduate of Inner Mongolia University of Technology who majored in mechanical engineering, also confessed that he had often made modifications to the guns to improve their accuracy.

Hohhot police then worked with officers of other cities to crack the network of guns sellers and have so far detained 11 suspects, He said, adding that the investigation continues.

Police said the imitation guns were smuggled from Belgium, Spain, Russia, Japan and Taiwan.

China's Law on Control of Guns clearly stipulates it is forbidden to manufacture and sell imitation guns.