He allegedly illegally exported $540,000 in ammunition to Russia. This is the accusation made against the South Tyrolean arms dealer Manfred Gruber, 61 years old, is currently detained in an American federal prison after his arrest in the United States on March 30th. The manager, commercial director of a company in northern Italy that produces weapons, allegedly sold the weapons to Moscow by having them transit through Kyrgyzstan.
“Gruber helped fuel the war against Ukraine”: the accusations
“The crimes committed by Gruber helped fuel the bloody war against Ukraine that has caused countless victims,” we read on the US Department of Justice website. Last January, an alleged associate of Gruber, originally from Kyrgyzstan, had already been arrested on the same charges and sentenced to 39 months in prison.
According to what has emerged so far, Gruber used a front company in Italy to purchase ammunition from a manufacturer in Nebraska. The export licenses allowed the shipment of ammunition to the Italian recipient, but required that the products remain in Italy. Instead, Gruber allegedly re-exported the munitions to Kyrgyzstan without the required US authorization. The final destination of the weapons, Russia, was discovered by US investigators also thanks to a contract with a Russian company found on the phone of Gruber’s alleged accomplice.