‘Russian beautician’ busted for arms smuggling hid scopes in Ugg boots

NEW YORK - A woman, who was arrested in Texas for trying to smuggle night-vision riflescopes into Russia, hid the contraband in a pair of Ugg boots, say prosecutors.

Anna Fermanova, the Latvian-born, America-raised, belly-button-pierced beautician, says she was just doing a favour for her husband’s friend, who wanted to sell the 15,000-dollar gear to hunters, reports the New York Post.

But prosecutors say her husband, Alexander, who was recently deported to Moscow after being convicted of fraud and identity theft, has wired her thousands of dollars, according to The Smoking Gun Web site.

The deposits were each for just under 10,000 dollars - the amount over which banks are required to file transaction reports, prosecutors said.

Fermanova, 24, was caught by investigators in March at Kennedy Airport, when she attempted to take the contraband aboard a flight to Moscow. The gear was confiscated, and she was allowed to make the trip.

Investigators did not expect her to return to the United States, but when she did on July 15, she was arrested.

Although the scopes are sold in the United States, they cannot be exported without a license.

She was released on 50,000 dollars bail, and is being held under house arrest in her Plano, Texas, home.(ANI)