Etsy Seller Charged With Running A Russian Weapons Smuggling Operation

An Etsy seller from New Hampshire has been charged federally for using his home as part of an alleged Russian smuggling operation. It is alleged that 35-year-old Alexey Brayman has been using his house as a clearinghouse for sensitive equipment commonly used to build weapons systems, including items used in Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Brayman has been identified in court documents as a lawful permanent resident of the US and an Israeli citizen who was born in Ukraine.

The 16-page federal court indictment alleges that Brayman was receiving and sending on “advanced electronics and sophisticated testing equipment used in quantum computing, hypersonic and nuclear weapons development and other military and space-based military applications.”

Etsy Store Acted As The Perfect Cover

While it is unclear where Brayman was sourcing such materials his Etsy store served as the perfect decoy to stop any nosy neighbors from asking too many questions.

Neighbors told Boston 25 News that while they often saw packages coming and going from the address, they knew that Alexey and his wife ran an Etsy craft business online and never thought anymore about it.

Brayman didn’t act alone it seems as if the indictment includes six others allegedly involved in this smuggling ring responsible for shipping military-grade and restricted technologies to Russia. The indictment also includes charges of conspiracy, money laundering, and bank fraud.

At this time it seems that Etsy was not directly involved with the selling of the goods, and the store acted as a cover for packages coming and going.

The indictment alleges that Brayman “repeatedly used the New Hampshire Residence as a transshipment point for repackaging sensitive military-grade and export-controlled items” and that those items were then forwarded to “intermediate locations in Europe and Asia, from where they were transshipped to Russia.”

Brayman was arrested and later released with a GPS tracking device with a court appearance next scheduled for February 2023.

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