Estonians sentenced for supplying guns to Lithuanian criminals
17.08.2012, 14:00In the years between 2009 and 2011, a group of Estonians based in Tartu sent at least eight machine guns, pistols, silencers, laseroptical sights and ammunition to a Lithuanian criminal gang in Marijampole, writes Postimees daily.
The weapons included a Kalashnikov AK-47, an UZI submachine gun, an automatic rifle, IngramMac 10 submachine gun, and others including Makarov and TT pistols.
The weapons were delivered to the buyers from Tartu across the Valga border checkpoint to Marijampole either in cars or were delivered to Lithuanian criminals at the parking lot of Kantri hotel at Tartu-Valga road.
Lithuanian paid Estonians about 11,000 euros for the weapons.
Estonian police started to investigate the case after stopping a car in August 2010 which contained in its trunk an AK-47 and several thousand bullets.
The weapons were ordered by Lithuanian criminal Robertas Jakstys. He has Estonian roots through his mother and speaks Estonian. When he was living in Spain in 2005 he met Kalmer Tiido, an Estonian with a criminal record. Tiido told Jakstys that he was able to organize a system to restore weapons which had been officially scrapped or were not usable. As for weapons that are scrapped, they are deleted from police databases and officially do not exist any more which makes them practically untraceable.
Tiido knew Tauno Lill who had a workshop in Raadi near Tartu and employed skilled mechanics who were able to restore such weapons.
KAPO arrested the group in the summer 2011. Jakstys received two years in prison, Kalmer Tiido was sentenced to prison for four years, while the three Estonians who organized the restoration of the weapons got between 5 and 6.5 years each.
Two mechanics who restored the weapons received between 4 and 5 years in prison.