Arya News - Five men were arrested in Germany on Monday for allegedly taking part in a criminal organization that smuggled goods used for making arms into Russia.
Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Germany"s Federal Prosecutor"s Office confirmed that five men were arrested on Monday on suspicion of working with a criminal organization smuggling goods to Russia.
The prosecutor"s office said the arrests were made by German customs officers in Lübeck, Germany. The suspects allegedly arranged an estimated 16,000 deliveries to Russia in a transaction valued at 30 million euros.
"The arrested suspects are strongly suspected of having committed commercial and organized violations of the Foreign Trade and Payments Act as members of a criminal organization," the office said in a press release.
The suspects include one German-Russian national and a German-Ukrainian national. Their full names were not released.
The prosecutor"s office alleges that the suspects used a trading company, owned by an arrested suspect referred to as "Nikita S.," to "clandestinely procure goods for Russian industry" and concealed transactions through a shell company. This was done at least since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
At least 20 Russian defense companies with sanctions against them have been identified as receiving goods as part of this scheme.
The European Union has a series of longstanding embargos on Russia which became more stringent following Russia"s invasion of Ukraine.
Among the goods smuggled to Russia are mechanical and technical components used to produce arms .
While five people were arrested, five more remain at large.
The suspects under arrest are scheduled to appear before a federal court judge on Friday.