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Russian police catch illegal producers of plane parts - 1

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MOSCOW, July 25 (RIA Novosti) - Police in Russia said they have intercepted and arrested a group that illegally produced aircraft parts and sold them in and outside the country.

"An organized group has been arrested for stealing components from the Saturn plant [in the Yaroslavl Region in central Russia] and producing and selling civil aircraft parts," police said in a news release.

Investigators established that since 2004, former and current Saturn employees manufactured aircraft parts, put identification numbers on them, and provided them with fake documents.

"Later, plane parts were sold through a chain of mediators to representatives of Russian and foreign airlines and aircraft maintenance enterprises," the release said.

The seized parts, worth more than 3.6 million rubles ($142,000), were intended for Tu-154 passenger planes and Il-76 freighters.

Experts say the sale of such counterfeit products presents a serious threat for air passengers. It was reported in June that passenger plane accidents in Russia and other CIS countries last year resulted in 412 deaths or 56% of the total number of people killed in air crashes globally.

After a Russian-made Tu-154 crashed in eastern Ukraine in August last year killing 170, Russian Transportation Minister Igor Levitin said the state should control all production supplied to civil aviation and ensure disposal of seized counterfeit parts.

An investigation is underway. The defendants face up to 10 years in prison.

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