SHIJIAZHUANG, July 15 -- Police in north China's Hebei Province have arrested 14 people for illegally selling guns and ammunition on the Internet, they announced on Wednesday.

Officers from the public security bureau of Hengshui City seized 1,142 guns, more than 400,000 bullets and a large quantity of accessories in busting the ring earlier this month, according to a spokesman with the bureau.

In March, police noticed an online advertisement posted by the dealers in which the word "gun" was replaced by "dog", argot often used in the online gun sales business.

In the following two months, the police found that the dealers sold the goods, which they purchased from Beijing and Henan Province, to 13 clients in different parts of the country. During the period, they struck nearly 10 deals a day.

An investigation found that the ring peddled the guns and ammunition to more than 20 provinces and cities, raking in more than one million yuan (about 163,500 U.S. dollars).