MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) apprehended 165 clandestine gunsmiths in 44 Russian regions as part of a nationwide security sweep, seizing over 400 firearms, the FSB press office told TASS on Wednesday.

"The Federal Security Service in coordination with the Interior Ministry and the National Guard foiled the criminal activity of 165 residents in 44 regions who were complicit in restoring the combat capabilities of civilian firearms at underground workshops and the subsequent sale [of such illicit weapons]," the press office said in a statement. FSB operatives also busted the activity of 40 underground workshops engaged in upgrading weapons and producing ammunition.

According to the FSB, the security sweep was carried out at the residences of underground gunsmiths in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sevastopol, as well as in the Donetsk People’s Republic and the regions of Kabardino-Balkaria, Sakha, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Mordovia, North Ossetia-Alania, Altai, Trans-Baikal, Krasnoyarsk, Stavropol and Khabarovsk, among others.

The FSB operatives seized 399 domestic and foreign firearms, including three machine-guns; 46 assault rifles; 36 submachine-guns; 107 rifles, carbines and other guns; and 207 pistols and revolvers.

In addition, the FSB also seized an Igla-S man-portable air defense system, or MANPAD; a Fagot anti-tank guided missile; two Konkurs anti-tanks missiles; 19 grenade launchers; five landmines; 140 hand grenades; 109 detonators, fuses and shotguns; over 59 kg of explosives (gunpowder and TNT); 387 artillery shells; and over 71,000 cartridges of various calibers.

The work to expose and shut down the unlawful activity for the illegal production, modification and sale of firearms continues, the FSB said.