Izvestiya newspaper, July, 12, 2003

Explosives disappeared from Moscow weapons black market after the 1999 bombings of blocks of flats, but other weapons are still available, although much less readily than in 1990s, a Russian newspaper has reported and provided a current price list. However, across Russia, there are hundreds if not thousands of tonnes of explosives abandoned by geologists and over 150,000 firearms are officially listed as missing. The following is the text of report by Anatoliy Gusev, headlined "Shahid Department Store" by the Izvestiya newspaper on 12 July. A courier was detained in Ingushetia on Thursday as he was trying to smuggle more than 80 kilograms of explosives to Russia. According to one of the theories, the plastic explosive used in the latest terrorist attacks in Moscow had been brought from the outside. However, according to another theory - the FSB [Federal Security Service] asserts it is the main one - the explosives might have been purchased or manufactured by the organizers of the terrorist attack directly in Moscow or in adjacent areas of Moscow Region. Izvestiya paid a visit to one of the sites of the capital city's "black market" for arms. Correspondent taken to see black market arms sellers Most sellers at the major construction materials market on Shchelkovskoye Shosse do not even suspect that arms are regularly sold 100 metres from them. Military units are situated several kilometres from the market. Two Air Force units are stationed 500 meters from the place where arms are sold. The Airborne Troops Separate Communications Regiment and another "air" unit are located a bit farther. Three "models nine" [Lada-2109 cars] with tinted glass were parked in a small vacant lot, their engines running. Our escort, a former law-enforcement officer (he declined to give us his real name), dashingly stopped his BMW in front of the parked cars. Two men got out of the cars and approached him. One of them shook our escort's hand and gestured us into his car. "No, Dima. Let's stay in the open and have a smoke," our escort suggested. "Has anything new arrived?" "Nothing that would interest you," Dima cast a distrustful look at the escort's "nephew." "You know, I don't deal in collector arms. It doesn't pay now. We're not getting anything serious. The cops are pressing us from every direction. Only 'peashooters' and Kalashnikovs are left. I can also sell some ammo." It is Makarov pistols, the weapons used by all police officers in this country, that Dima calls "peashooters" because of their short effective range and low killing power. One can buy this kind of pistol of dubitable origin (somebody might have been killed with it) for 300-400 dollars. A "clean," meaning brand new pistol costs twice or thrice as much. The price of a Kalashnikov is 10 times higher. A new assault rifle with three magazines of ammunition goes for 3,000 dollars on this market. A "second-hand" assault rifle costs 1,200 dollars. Moscow arms black market has no permanent location The "black market" for arms does not have a specific address. "Those days when assault rifles and pistols were sold on every corner remained in the distant 1990s," our escort told Izvestiya. The police have closed down virtually all such outlets, whereas investigators regularly detect ammunition depots in living apartments. Therefore, the 'market' is currently migrating all over the city. There are certain sites where sellers and buyers conclude agreements on arms and ammunition deliveries. They sell only to persons they know by sight or to those with reliable references. Explosives have disappeared from black market "Ask about explosives," I whispered into the escort's ear. He pretended he did not hear, turned around, and headed for the car. He then stopped half-way and asked sort-of jokingly: "I say, Dima, do you trade in explosives by any chance?" Dima looked at him with a surprised expression: "Are you crazy? Only a total nut would get involved with explosives these days. If the FSB catches you, it will immediately dump all the terrorist attacks on you." According to our sources, explosives and their components disappeared from the market back in those days when the houses on Guryanov Street were blown up [in 1999]. The police started to persistently hound arms traders, whereas informers immediately informed on persons asking, for instance, about plastic explosives or components to manufacture explosives. The police or the FSB have their informers in virtually every group selling arms. Detectives wink at petty trade, but always know about major deliveries and can partially control the market. If someone in Moscow wants to buy plastic explosives, law-enforcement organs, most likely, will know about it. Admittedly, one can find a great abundance of recipes to manufacture explosives on the Internet, and on the market itself along with ammunition one can buy "Do It Yourself" brochures with a detailed description of the process of bomb production at home. These Internet technologies do not stand any criticism. Above all, they are dangerous to the very manufacturers of explosives. Real experts do not cry about their techniques from the rooftops. On the other hand, the components required to manufacture a "bomb" are indeed sold on every corner: In pharmacies, hardware stores, and shops selling car cosmetics. One does not have to look for plastic explosives, for its substitute can be manufactured from widely available materials. However, one cannot simply close down the shops after all. Price list Postscript. Arms prices in Moscow in July 2003. Makarov pistol - 300-900 dollars, TT pistol: 30-700 dollars, Stechkin pistol - 2,000-5,000 dollars, AKS [assault rifle with folding butt] - 1,200-3,500 dollars, Kedr assault rifle - 1,500-4,000 dollars, RGD-5 [hand grenade] - 1,500 dollars per piece. Thousands of tonnes of unattended explosives "It is virtually impossible to establish the exact amount of arms and explosives currently in illegal circulation," a source from the Criminal Investigation Main Directorate told Izvestiya. "Twenty years ago, several hundred guns 'roamed' around the country and the disappearance of each weapon was an extraordinary event for the police. And now, according to verified data alone, more than 150,000 firearms are listed as missing, and around 13,000 were lost over the past year alone. Arms enter into illegal circulation mostly from troubled republics of the former USSR. Our own armed forces are in second place: They lose or sell assault rifles, grenade launchers, and artillery ammunition. In order to keep their linen clean, subunit commands write off the weapons as scrapped or lost during exercises. Explosives cause even more trouble: Hundreds of geological parties were abandoned in the north; hundreds if not thousands of tonnes of explosives are stored there. Local hunters use them to kill fish and bears, whereas Moscow gangsters - to kill businessmen and one another. Numerous enterprises utilizing substances that can be used for domestic production of explosives are a separate problem. It is impossible to control the use of these substances. After all, one cannot appoint a policeman to look after every collective farmer using ammonium nitrate, for instance."