Two teenagers in Taichung have been arrested for posting a video on YouTube on how to make explosives, which has gathered about 200,000 views on the popular video-sharing Web site.
The two teenagers — surnamed Cheng (鄭) and Wei (魏) — were only 17 when they produced the “instructional video” last year.
After receiving complaints about the video, local police went to the homes of the two teenagers earlier this week armed with search warrants and arrested them.
The controversial 15-minute video provides viewers with information and a demonstration of how to make explosives, starting with obtaining the chemical ingredients, a step-by-step demonstration of how to mix and grind them, laying the gunpowder on the ground and, finally, lighting it up to create a blast.
Police officers said the two teens violated the Guns, Ammunition and Knives Control Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例) because they do not have a license for making explosives.
As they are underaged — both are now 18 — and just graduated from vocational high school earlier this month, police said they would be transferred to the Juvenile Court of Taichung City for the legal proceedings.
An initial investigation showed that the two purchased the main ingredients for making gunpowder — potassium nitrate, sulfur, charcoal powder — from online auction sites and followed methods taught by chemistry teachers and those found at online Web sites for making explosives.
Police found several kilograms of the ingredients in Cheng’s room, along with some tools and instruments,
Police captain Chen Tsun-an (陳春安), head of the criminal investigation unit at the police station in Wufong District (霧峰) who is handling the case, said he was quite impressed with the two teenagers’ knowledge of chemistry, physics and other sciences, adding that the two often watched programs on the Discovery channel together.
“Based on the tools and materials we found in their rooms, I believe that it would also be quite easy for them to modify and retool firearms,” Chen said.
When they were taken into the police station for questioning, Cheng and Wei said they thought they had not done anything wrong.
“We were just experimenting. Is this a very serious matter?” they asked.
Chen said the two teens are intelligent, come from well-to-do families and do not seem to have any connection to terrorist groups.
“I see them as being too smart for their age, and they are interested in learning how to make bullets and firearms,” he said.
“It would have been better for them to learn and do these experiments in school labs under the guidance of instructors,” he said.
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