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Russian Secret Services Intercept Illegal Arms Flow From EU, Ukraine

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained a group of smugglers who were bringing firearms from the EU and Ukraine into Russia, state news agency RIA Novosti reported Wednesday.

The gang's ringleader was detained last week in the Moscow region after being caught redhanded, according an FSB statement quoted by RIA Novosti. More members of the group were detained in six other Russian regions at the same time, the report said.

Four workshops that had been modernizing and fixing the weapons as well as producing ammunition were also closed down during the operation, the FSB said. In total, 136 items were confiscated, including machine guns, Russian and foreign revolvers, explosives and various ammunition, as well as World War II-era mortars.

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