61-Year-Old Man Arrested on Suspicion of Acquiring, Transporting, and Storing Illegal Ammunition

On August 21, 2021, the Ararat Division of the Police of the Republic of Armenia received operational information indicating that a 22-year-old resident of the village of Lusarart, Ararat province, had fired shots from illegally held firearms in the community of Pokr Vedi, Ararat province. This was reported by the press office of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia.

On the same day, at around 1:15 AM, the young man voluntarily appeared at the Ararat Division of Police and presented an “AKM” type rifle and one empty magazine. As a result of measures taken, it was revealed that he had participated on a voluntary basis in the 2020 Artsakh War, during which he found an assault rifle, a magazine for the rifle, and several cartridges, which he brought to the Republic of Armenia and stored at his concrete pillar production plant in the village of Lusarart, Ararat province. Subsequently, on August 20, 2021, around 10:00 PM, the young man fired 2-3 shots into the air with the aforementioned rifle in a field adjacent to P. Sevak Street in the village of Pokr Vedi.

During the inspection of the scene, three fired cartridges from the assault rifle were found. Following this incident, a criminal case was initiated at the Ararat Division of the Police based on the first part of Article 235 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, which has been sent to the Vedi Investigative Division of the Ararat Regional Investigative Department for pre-trial investigation.

During a search conducted at the young man's residence within the framework of the criminal case, the young man's father, a 61-year-old man who is the head of the local branch of the “Defense Volunteer Union” public organization, presented from a box in the house's storage room two bulletproof vests, 18 magazines for the assault rifle loaded with 430 pieces of 7.62 mm caliber ammunition, 3 magazines loaded with 111 pieces of 5.45 mm caliber ammunition, 4 unopened factory condition metal boxes each containing a total of 2800 pieces of 7.62 mm caliber ammunition, one opened metal box containing 340 pieces of 7.62 mm caliber ammunition, a plastic container holding 365 pieces of 7.62 mm caliber ammunition, one “F1” type grenade without a detonator, one “RGP-5” type grenade without a detonator, one detonator for a grenade, one SVIN knife, one “Toz” type rifle of 5.6 mm caliber, one “SKS” type rifle of 7.62 mm caliber, and one double-barreled smoothbore shotgun with cut barrels.

Moreover, during the search, one double-barreled shotgun was found on top of a metal cabinet in the same storage room, one detonator for a grenade inside the metal cabinet, and from the house's basement, a box for ammunition that had not been opened, containing 1400 pieces of 7.62 mm caliber ammunition.

According to the obtained data, the 61-year-old man collected the discovered weapons and ammunition during the last war in Artsakh from various regions of Artsakh. A criminal case has been initiated at the Ararat Regional Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Armenia based on the first part of Article 235 of the Criminal Code, which has been combined with the aforementioned criminal case. The 61-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of unlawfully acquiring, transporting, possessing, or storing weapons, military ammunition, and explosives. The investigation is ongoing.