Newsday, NY
March 15 2005

U.S. authorities charge 18 with Russian weapon-smuggling plot

By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN

March 15, 2005, 10:34 AM EST

NEW YORK — U.S. authorities have charged 18 people with weapons
trafficking, including an alleged scheme to smuggle grenade
launchers, shoulder-fired missiles and other Russian military weapons
into the country.

The arrests resulted from a year-long investigation that used a
confidential informant posing as an arms trafficker selling weapons
to terrorists, according to prosecutors, the FBI and police.

The case took U.S. investigators to South Africa, Armenia and the
Georgian Republic, a federal source, speaking on condition of
anonymity, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The informant, an explosives expert, contacted the FBI after he was
approached by a man who said he had access to weapons from the former
Soviet Union and believed the informant could find a willing buyer,
according to another law enforcement source, also speaking to the AP
on condition of anonymity.

Over the following year, the informant purchased eight assault
weapons in locations around the country. Using a digital camera
provided by the informant, members of the ring, which included
Armenians and South Africans, provided pictures of the weapons they
said they had available for sale, the official said.

The pictures, apparently taken somewhere in Armenia, show anti-tank
missiles, a Russian missile launcher and a recoilless anti-tank
rifle, among other weapons, the officials said.

Arrests have been made in New York, Miami and in Los Angeles in
connection with the investigation, the source said.

The defendants also are charged with conspiring to traffic in machine
guns and other assault weapons, and with selling the eight weapons
during the investigation.

Details of the investigation were to be discussed at a late-morning
news conference with officials from the FBI and the New York Police
Department.