Crocodile found in Russian weapons raid in St Petersburg
- Published
Not an open-and-shut case: Crocodile found by police in St Petersburg
Russian police searching for illegal weapons in a St Petersburg house faced a scaly surprise in the basement: a two-metre (6.5ft) Nile crocodile.
Police said the reptile did not cause any injuries - but now they must find a new home for it. Russian media say the house is used by a nationalist group.
A stockpile of illegal arms was found in the raid, in the city's Peterhof suburb, RIA Novosti news reports.
It included explosive devices and copies of Kalashnikov assault rifles.
A 40-year-old man arrested in November is suspected of illegal possession of weapons.
The St Petersburg news website Fontanka says the property houses a "patriotic youth militia" called Red Star ("Krasnaya Zvezda" in Russian).
The crocodile was living in a pool that had been dug into the concrete floor.
Leningrad Zoo says it has no extra space to take it in.