Former freelance photographer John San Linn and his wife were detained in the Kachin State capital of Myitkyina on Monday night, after police found more than 1,000 bullets at their home in Myawaddy near the Thailand-Myanmar border, according to local police.
Lwin Maung Thein, a police officer in Myitkyina, told The Irrawaddy: “We detained him. The police in Karen State told us to arrest him. It is their case.”
Police from Myitkyina and Myawaddy cooperated to arrest the pair. John San Linn worked as a freelance photographer in Kachin and Karen states in the past.
The police found 1,020 12.7 mm bullets under his house. The investigation is ongoing and police officer Lwin Maung Thein said he did not yet know whether the seized ammunition was thought to be linked to the Kachin Independence Army.
Ethnic rebels in northern Shan State often use these bullets. They can be used to destroy unarmored vehicles, penetrate lightly armored vehicles and damage external ancillary equipment.
The police officer said that John San Linn and his wife would be transferred to Karen State to face charges.
Police filed charges until Article 19 of the Arms Act for unlicensed possession of arms/ammunition, said Myawaddy police officer Thet Naing Soe.
“We have been trying to arrest him for a long time,” Thet Naing Soe added.
He said that an anonymous source had provided the information used to arrest them.
John San Linn and his wife have two children.
