Depending on who you ask, the object at the centre of a joint police and military investigation in Papua New Guinea (PNG) could either go off with an almighty boom or, at worst, with the pop of a cork.
A local contractor found the object among building materials in a shipping container and alerted authorities.
Police and soldiers sealed off the surrounding wharf area while bomb disposal experts examined the object and moved it to a secure place, according to the PNG’s Post-Courier news outlet.
Police Commissioner David Manning described it as an “artillery round,” and that four Chinese nationals have been arrested over the find.
“Police acted quickly upon receiving information that the artillery round had been discovered,” Manning said. “The area was secured to prevent the risk of harm.”
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) embassy in Port Moresby has come out claiming it is a wine bottle that happens to be shaped like a shell.
“According to the company involved and following an on-site verification, the object in question—reported as an ‘artillery shell’—is in fact a shell-shaped wine bottle,” a spokesperson for the embassy said.
“It poses no danger at all.”
The spokesperson said the embassy was waiting for the official findings of the police investigation, and that police had been kept fully informed. The statement did not name the company or say who carried out the on-site check, and it did not mention the arrests.
Novelty wine bottles shaped like artillery shells are sold online through websites like Etsy.
The four Chinese nationals were taken into police custody in connection with the shipment, but it’s unclear whether anyone has been charged.
Reports differ on some details. One said the object went missing from Motukea Wharf and was later recovered in the suburb of Gerehu, that a Chinese national gave authorities the information about it, and that two Papua New Guineans were also detained, making six people held in all.
That report also said Deputy Police Commissioner Donald Yamasombi confirmed that “military ordnance” had been recovered, but declined to give details.
The Epoch Times has contacted PNG police and New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment. Manning has urged the public to avoid unverified speculation while the investigation continues.
Until the results are in, nobody can say for certain whether the right tool for the job is a bomb disposal team or a corkscrew.
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