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ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — In a story Feb. 27 about an arms trafficking case, The Associated Press, citing a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, erroneously said the suspects are Chechens. An updated release identified the men as citizens of Kyrgyzstan.
A corrected version of the story is below:
2 men in DC area accused of smuggling firearms to Chechnya
Two citizens of Kyrgyzstan living in the Washington metropolitan area are accused of smuggling firearms to the Russian republic of Chechnya
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Two citizens of Kyrgyzstan living in the Washington metropolitan area are accused of smuggling firearms to the Russian republic of Chechnya.
A release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia says 28-year-old Tengiz Sydykov and 27-year-old Eldar Rezvanov were arrested Tuesday on charges of international trafficking in firearms, smuggling and other offenses.
A criminal complaint says the residents of Alexandria, Virginia, purchased more than 100 disassembled firearms and tried to ship them to Chechnya without a license, using false shipping inventories and disguising the parts as kitchen utensils and car seat covers. Postal employees told investigators the pair made parcel shipments nearly daily.
The men appeared in federal court Tuesday and were ordered held pending a detention hearing Thursday. Each faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
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This story has been corrected to identify the suspects as Kyrgyz citizens. The U.S. Attorney's Office had erroneously identified the men as Chechens.
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