SSU and National Police detain 4 more traffickers who sought to set up illegal arms trade in Ukraine. PHOTOS
The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) and the National Police have prevented new attempts to sell "trophy" weapons and ammunition on the black market in different regions of Ukraine.
As a result of comprehensive measures, four traffickers were detained for selling weapons illegally taken out of frontline areas and combat zones, Censor.NET reports, citing the SSU press centre.
Details
Among the items seized from the suspects were Russian Kalashnikov assault rifles with silencers, an arsenal of F-1, RGD-5 and RGO combat grenades, as well as nearly 2,500 rounds of ammunition of various calibres.
In Zhytomyr, a trafficker was detained who had set up a weapons stash in the garage of a private house and was looking for potential buyers.
Law enforcement officers caught the suspect red-handed when he was trying to sell three combat grenades and three Russian assault rifles, one of them a modern AK-12 model.
Another suspect was exposed in the Kyiv region. He turned out to be a former serviceman of one of the local Territorial Defence units who, after discharge, had set up an underground arms trade.
The investigation established that the suspect disassembled the weapons into components and mailed them to customers in separate parts.
To cover his tracks, he declared the parcels as household goods, and after completing each deal, he deleted the customer’s contact details and changed his SIM card.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, a mobilised serviceman who had gone AWOL was detained after organising an illegal weapons sales channel.
According to the case materials, the suspect had been collecting "trophy" weapons during his service when his unit was deployed on the southern front.
In the Vinnytsia region, a local restorer has been charged with secretly restoring the combat capabilities of weapons and ammunition for sale. He set up an underground workshop right in his own home.
The detainees have now been served with notices of suspicion. The issue of additional legal qualification of the suspects’ criminal actions is being decided. The offenders face up to seven years in prison.
