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NANTICOKE — Federal customs agents and state law enforcement personnel on Tuesday raided a local sporting goods store first implicated more than a decade ago in the illegal sale of military equipment to a Russian front company alleged to have ties to an international arms dealer.

Officials at the scene confirmed agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations served a search warrant at D&R Sports Center, located at 620 Fairchild St., but referred further questions to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, which declined to comment.

Pennsylvania State Police also were at the scene earlier in the day, but HSI agents declined to say what other agencies were involved.

Agents at the scene indicated no arrests would be made Tuesday.

Investigators were seen going in and out of the building, carrying bags and boxes clearly marked “evidence.” At least one customer was turned away when he attempted to enter the business, but officials did allow a UPS delivery person to enter the store.

Khaalid Walls, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that the search warrant was sealed and the investigation is ongoing. He declined to comment further.

At one point, an elderly man entered the store and appeared to be upset. The man then appeared to push one of the investigators while inside the store, and raised voices could be heard for a short time. The man then left the store and declined to speak to reporters.

Previous run-ins with law

According to the Times Leader’s archives, Mark Komoroski, then the owner of D&R, was sentenced in 2010 to 32 months in federal prison for conspiring to illegally smuggle military equipment, including rifle scopes and face shields, to Russia.

Komoroski’s co-defendant, a Russian national named Sergey Korznikov, was sentenced to six months in prison for his role in the conspiracy.

D&R, which records state has exported about $2.5 million in goods since June 2000, was the subject of a routine inspection in 2005 by officials with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that stemmed from an unrelated investigation into illegal firearms transactions.

Records show officials discovered a $68,428 purchase order for night vision and thermal-imaging devices from a Moscow, Russia-based company that listed Korznikov as its president. Komoroski, records show, told officials that he believed the store had been doing business with “Russian Special Forces”; business documents included the name of a counter-terrorism unit controlled by the former KGB.

Several wire transfers going into the business’ account were identified as coming from Rockman EOOD and Ibrahim Hajji, both deemed excluded parties by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces trade sanctions. Court documents indicate Rockman was owned by Sergey Bout, brother of Russian arms dealer and former KGB major Viktor Bout.

According to court documents, Viktor Bout and “his numerous shell companies around Eastern Europe and the world were also identified as significant participants in providing weapons “to Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, rebel groups in Rwanda and the Taliban.

Shipments seized

In 2007, U.S. Customs officials intercepted five shipments at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York that were bound for Russia, according to court records. One shipment addressed to Korznikov, labeled “clothing,” actually contained scopes and other optical equipment. Each of the shipments were signed for by Komoroski.

Komoroski’s attorneys argued D&R had obtained export licenses for the items, but officials later determined they were invalid because the items listed conflicted with the name of the receiver.

In a motion filed in November 2010, Komoroski contended he did not know the rifle scopes he exported required him to have a special license from the government. Komoroski, who represented himself, said he repeatedly advised his attorneys he did not know about the license, but they advised him it didn’t matter regarding his guilt or innocence.

A family business

Court records show Mark Komoroski, 53, is the son of Donald Komoroski, who became a partner in the business in 1958, a decade after the sporting goods wholesaler/retailer was founded. Donald Komoroski’s sons, Theodore and Mark Komoroski, managed store locations in Bloomsburg and Nanticoke respectively, records show.

The business employed 24 employees throughout both its locations as of 2008, according to court documents.

Court records indicate ownership of the Nanticoke storefront was transferred in 2005 from Donald Komoroski to Komoroski Realty.

According to Bureau of Prisons records, Mark Komoroski was released from prison in December 2012. His wife, Lecia Komoroski, continued to operate the business during his incarceration, according to published reports.

According to previous Times Leader reports, the business was forced to forfeit its Federal Firearms License as a result of the criminal case.

A Homeland Security agent removes a bag of evidence from D&R Sports on in Nanticoke.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL0502516Bust1-16.jpg.optimal.jpgA Homeland Security agent removes a bag of evidence from D&R Sports on in Nanticoke. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

Homeland Security agents remove evidence from D&R Sports Center in Nanticoke.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL0502516Bust2-16.jpg.optimal.jpgHomeland Security agents remove evidence from D&R Sports Center in Nanticoke. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

A Homeland Security agent removes evidence from D&R Sports Center in Nanticoke. The business was raided by state and federal agents on Tuesday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL0502516Bust3-16.jpg.optimal.jpgA Homeland Security agent removes evidence from D&R Sports Center in Nanticoke. The business was raided by state and federal agents on Tuesday. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

FOR WEB
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_DH-sports-locater-5-25-16-6.jpg.optimal.jpgFOR WEBAimee Dilger | Times Leader
No arrests made, but boxes of evidence removed from D&R Sports Center

By Travis Kellar

[email protected] and Joe Dolinsky

[email protected]

Reach Travis Kellar at 570-991-6389 or on Twitter @TLNews. Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL