Russian Citizen in Pennsylvania Charged with Having WMD - East Idaho News
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Russian Citizen in Pennsylvania Charged with Having WMD

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HT vladislav miftakhov blur jt 140126 16x9 992?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1390816977326Altoona Police Department(ALTOONA, Pa.) — Authorities have arrested a Russian citizen in Altoona, Pa., for allegedly having a “weapon of mass destruction” among other charges.

Vladislav Miftakhov, 19, was arrested Friday after police officers allegedly found evidence of bomb making materials and a suspected bomb in his apartment, according to the Altoona Police Department.

Police officers had initially entered the apartment on the suspicion that Miftakhov was growing marijuana.

After finding the suspected bomb, Pennsylvania state police were called in to diffuse it.  Miftakhov allegedly told investigators he had bought supplies over the Internet over a few weeks to construct the bombs, according to police.

Federal agencies are now investigating the case, as well as local police.

According to a copy of the arrest affidavit posted by the Altoona Mirror, Miftakhov said he bought some of the materials from Amazon to experiment with making flash powder.

Andrew Leff a neighbor in Miftakhov’s apartment building told ABC News affiliate WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh, he was surprised by the severity of the charges.

“He’s the weirdest human being I’ve ever met to be honest,” Leff said.  “He’s always doing abstract things but never really anything dangerous like this.”

Miftakhov was charged with having a weapon of mass destruction, risking catastrophe, possession of a weapon and recklessly endangering another person among other charges.  His bail was posted at $500,000 and he will have his preliminary hearing on Feb. 5.

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