enforcement authorities showed photographs of weaponry available in Armenia that they said the suspects provided to the informant, who contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation last year after a man approached him wanting to sell him weapons from the former Soviet Union. Suspects Artur Solomonyan, Christiaan Dewet Spies, Ioseb Kharabadze, Joseph Colpani and Michael Guy Demare were charged with conspiring to transport destructive devices in interstate and foreign commerce. Thirteen others were charged with weapons trafficking. Solomonyan, 26, an Armenian, and Spies, 33, a South African are accused of being the informant's contacts and the ringleaders of the operation. They were arrested Monday night after one last meeting with the informant to finalize plans to travel to Eastern Europe to arrange a weapons shipment, the Justice Department said. Kelly said a potential weapons pipeline had been disrupted and added U.S. authorities were working with allies overseas to secure weapons and bring other members of the ring to justice. The two accused ringleaders face up to 30 years in prison. The other defendants face maximum sentences ranging from five to 20 years. ---SP 2257 Local Time 1957 GMT
