Armenian official says arrest made in connection with U.S. smuggling case

AP Worldstream
Mar 17, 2005

Armenian authorities have made arrests in connection with a U.S.
investigation that resulted in charges against 18 people in an alleged
scheme to smuggle Russian military weapons into the United States, a
security official said Thursday.

Grach Arutyunian, first deputy director of Armenia’s National Security
Service, spoke two days after U.S. authorities charged the
suspects. Among those charged were several Armenians. He did not say
how many people have been arrested in Armenia, or when the arrests
took place.

The suspects are accused of trying to smuggle grenade launchers,
shoulder-fired missiles and other Russian military hardware into the
United States.

Arutyunian said one of the defendants in the United States, Artur
Solomonyan, has been living in the United States since 1998, when he
traveled there as an exchange student. The security service said
Wednesday that Solomonian has been wanted by police in Armenia since
2001 on suspicion of avoiding military service.

According to a criminal complaint unsealed in U.S. District Court in
Manhattan, an informant met Solomonyan and another defendant on
several occasions in New York to discuss weapons deals.

The U.S. case featured photographs, apparently taken in Armenia,
showing weapons including anti-tank missiles, a Russian missile
launcher and an anti-tank rifle, according to U.S. law enforcement
officials. Arutyunian said that “there is no proof” that weapons meant
to be smuggled to the United States were brought out of Armenia.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress