Ex-Deputy Defense Minister (1992-1999) Vahan Shirkhanyan was arrested Saturday, December 9.

He is suspected of having links to Artur Vardanyan's gang, specific tasks and role in its activities, the National Security Services said in a statement.

Armenian security forces arrested 10 people and claimed to have found a big weapons cache on Wednesday, November 25 during a dawn raid on a Yerevan house which they said averted a series of “particularly grave crimes,” RFE/FL Armenian service reported.

The Armenian police and National Security Service (NSS) described the detainees, among them four women, as members of a “criminal association” led by Artur Vartanian, a 34-year-old Armenian national who is said to have lived in Spain since 1997.