TAIPEI (Reuters) - A US police officer is being questioned after arriving in Taiwan and turning in a gun, having apparently inadvertently brought the weapon in her carry-on bag from Los Angeles, Taiwan's aviation police said on Friday (April 14).

The 43-year-old officer from California, identified as Nell Grant, told airport police the pistol and six bullets were in her bag because of her negligence and she did not know how she passed through airport security in Los Angeles with it.

"When she entered Taiwan, she realised she had a gun with her. She reported it to airport authorities," the Aviation Police Bureau said in statement.

Grant, who was had been intending to transit through Taiwan on her way to Bangkok, had been barred from leaving Taiwan and referred to prosecutors for further questioning, a bureau officer told Reuters.

Neither Grant, who flew in on Thursday to Taiwan's main airport, the Taoyuan International Airport, nor prosecutors were immediately available for comment.