Illegal Loggers Roll State Vehicle into Ravine and Flee

On January 19, at 17:44, an employee of the Forestry Committee called the operational management center of the Tavush regional police and requested that urgent patrol units head to the junction of Ijevan-Vazashen.

The dispatched operational group discovered that the Forestry Committee employee attempted to stop the unmarked vehicles—GAZ-66 and UAZ loaded with timber—at the end of the Vazashen settlement. However, the UAZ deliberately collided with the Ministry of Environment's Nissan Patrol, causing it to roll into a ravine, while the GAZ-66 and UAZ fled the scene.

As a result of operational-investigative measures carried out by the Tavush Regional Police and Ijevan Division, the identities of the drivers of the fleeing UAZ and GAZ-66 loaded with timber were established. The 23-year-old driver of the UAZ and the 59-year-old driver of the GAZ-66 were located and arrested, along with their vehicles, and taken to the Ijevan Division, where the 23-year-old revealed that the timber had been illegally obtained from the Berd community forestry by cutting tree branches. He also stated that he had hit the Nissan Patrol with the UAZ, causing it to fall into the ravine. The 59-year-old man admitted to illegally cutting down two standing trees in the forest of the Vazashen community.

The UAZ and GAZ-66 have been moved to a specially protected area of the division. The two men from Vazashen, aged 23 and 59, along with the relevant documentation, have been presented to the Tavush Regional Investigative Department. A criminal case has been initiated.