Spain: Alleged smugglers of defense material to Russia held

MADRID (AP) — Spanish police have detained one Russian national and one Ukrainian national for their alleged smuggling of defense material to Russia. The National Police say that the two people were arrested in Spain’s northern Basque Country region on an undisclosed date. Customs agents aided in the police investigation that started in June 2021 when police detected what they suspected was an illicit operation to send double-use aeronautical equipment to Russia. Police suspect the smuggling ring was meant to help Russia elude the European Union trade sanctions imposed of it following the Feb. 2022 invasion of Ukraine.