The Saint Petersburg Directorate of the Investigative Committee continues the investigation into illegal circulation of firearms committed by an organized group (Part 3 of Article 222 of the RF Penal Code).

According to investigators, official of the Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Region Office of the Federal Penitentiary Service Mikhail Svetlov, official of the special force of the Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Region Directorate of the Interior Ministry Mikhail Moshkin together with residents of Saint Petersburg Leonid Svetlov, Dmitry Bogdanov, Maksim Romanov, Konstantin Dankov, Yuri Karachev and Pavel Peshkov as well as unidentified people conspired and acted as an organized group to arrange for illegal circulation of firearms and ammunition. They come up with the scheme, secrecy measures and distributed the roles. In 2015, they bought a large amount of firearms and ammunition in the countries of the European Union which they then transported to Russia for storage and selling. The said individuals have been charged and remanded in custody.

As was reported before, on 13 August 2015, about 100 guns, a large amount of ammunition and a number of parts of firearms were found and confiscated during raids.

At present the investigators together with the operatives of the regional offices of the Federal Security Service and the Interior Ministry are serving 9 search warrants in Saint Petersburg and in Leningrad Region at residences of possible accomplices of the accused. So far they have found around 30 pistols, 3 submachine guns, a lot of ammunition and parts of the guns. The investigation is ongoing.