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FSB detains 42 underground gunmakers in 12 Russian regions

According to the intelligence agency, during the special operation the activity of 22 clandestine workshops modernizing weapons and manufacturing ammunition was foiled

© FSB public relations center/TASS

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FSB seizes largest weapons arsenal from underground arms makers

MOSCOW, August 3. /TASS/. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has conducted a massive special operation to intercept underground gunmakers, detaining 42 individuals and uncovering 22 clandestine arms upgrading workshops equipped with 3D-printers, the FSB Public Relations Center informed TASS on Monday.

"The Federal Security Service together with the Interior Ministry and the National Guard in 12 regions has intercepted the activity of 42 individuals involved in the modernization of civilian weapons into combat analogues, manufacturing of ammunition in underground workshops, and their sales in various subjects of the country," the FSB reported.

According to the intelligence agency, during the special operation the activity of 22 underground workshops modernizing weapons and manufacturing ammunition was foiled. The FSB reported that the workshops were fitted with special equipment, including 3D-printers and numerical control machines.

The special operation was conducted in Moscow, the Moscow Region, Dagestan, the Karachay-Circassian Region, Chechnya, the Krasnoyarsk Region and the Amur, Voronezh, Lipetsk, Irkutsk, Rostov and Kemerovo regions. "Places of residence of the illegal gunsmiths are being searched and investigated," the FSB reported. As a result, 179 units of combat and civilian firearms, as well as firearms with restored combat properties have been withdrawn from illicit circulation. Among the confiscated weapons is a PKM machine gun; assault rifles AK-74, AKMS, AKS-74U; submachine guns PPSh, PPS, KEDR, MP-40, SA, MP-5; and Mosin, SVT, SKS, SVD, Saiga, Tigr, Mauser, AR-15, M-16, AUG, GM-15, POF and Barret rifles and carbines. TT, PM, APS, Korovin, Grand Power, Glock, Colt, Mauser, Parabellum, Walther, Luger, Beretta, Norinco, Taurus and Nagant pistols and revolvers were also confiscated, as well as 17 F-1, RGD-5, RGO, RGN hand grenades, about 15 kilos of explosives (gunpowder, TNT), 110 detonators of various modifications, over 80,000 ammunition of various caliber, and large amount of basic parts and components of weapons (barrels, cylinders, bolts and triggers).

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