An official from the Berd district, who wished to remain anonymous, argued that if water pipes aren’t built in the next 15 years for gravity-fed irrigation water, emigration numbers will rise substantially. Presently, not only is there no construction of irrigation pipes, but the pipes operating in the Soviet-era which now lay idle, are being pilfered. Here, we refer to the irrigation pipes located in the vicinity of the villages of Nerkin Garmiraghbyur and Movses. These pipes are registered as the property of the Tavush district of “Aghstev-Debed Water Ltd.” (ADW) Artur Yerganyan, branch manager of ADW, expressed his dismay over the theft of the pipes and said that he had contacted the police. Mr. Yerganyan refused to offer any details regarding the theft in order not to compromise the initial investigation now underway. We noticed pipes of varying diameters piled up behind the branch office. These pipes, according to information we were able to obtain, were confiscated from the thieves. Given that the investigation is presently underway we will only present the first initials of the suspects; even though we have more specific information about them. On January 9, 2009, A.M., a resident of the town of Sevan in Gegharkunik Marz born in 1974, asked K. Sargsyan, a resident of Dilijan, to crane load a set of pipes onto a truck that he had rented. K. Sargsyan used a crane and loaded the pipes on the truck. Driver V.G. was caught by police as he transported the pipes in the “Reno” dump truck to Yerevan. Later, in March 2009, A.M. decided to dismantle the irrigation pipes belonging to ADW in the town of Berd. For this purpose, he employed tractor drivers, crane operators and welders. These individuals, not knowing that what they were doing was illegal, dismantled pipes worth 4.4 million AMD. A.M., with the help of Abovyan resident V.G., was able to haul the pipes away from the site in his vehicle but was caught by police in the town of Berd. At the same time, A.M. directed the welders to dismantle the irrigation pipes located in the “Haram Ourt” district of Nerkin Garmiraghbyur. However, he was not able to haul the dismantled pipes away. A criminal case has been launched surrounding the theft and A.M. has been charged by the preliminary examining body. On July 29, the Court of First Instance of the Tavush jurisdiction, Judge Zoya Zakinyan presiding, reviewed the motion of the Tavush Investigative Division regarding the pre-trial detention of A.M. The court decided to set bail at 1 million AMD rather than taking A.M. into pre-trial custody. Judge Zoya Zakinyan adopted such a decision without taking into account that A.M. have pilfered irrigation pipes in Dilijan as well and that there had been a warrant out for his arrest. A.H., a resident of the town of Charentsavan, Kotayk Marz, born in 1963, was also implicated in the pipe theft in Berd. He had reached an agreement with A.M. to carry out the dismantling of pipes belonging to ADW in early March. To carry this plan out, they employed tractor drivers and crane operators and the assistance of the above-mentioned V.G. They were caught by police in the town of Berd while transporting the stolen pipes to Yerevan. On June 27, A.H. was charged. On the same day, the preliminary examining body motioned the court to detain him for a period of two months. Abovyan resident A.M., born in 1980 with a college degree, employed welders and tractor drivers and dismantled 18 pipes worth some 3.254 million AMD. On March 13, the thieves and their trucks were apprehended by police in Berd. On August 3, 2009, the Tavush Court of First Instance decided to take him into pre-trial custody for two months. Later on, the prosecution appealed the decision of Judge Zakinyan to set bail for A.M. The Court of Appeals revoked the decision of the lower court. According to our information, some 2.8 million in losses as a result of the theft of the pipes was returned during the preliminary investigation. But many questions still remain. Why did the preliminary examining body wait three months after the thefts were discovered to initiate a criminal case? Why wasn’t a criminal case launched against V.G., who transported the stolen goods on several occasions? It is clear beyond any reasonable doubt that he knew the pipes had been stolen. Investigation results clearly point out that a criminal gang was behind the entire operation. In our humble estimation, the criminal case that was initiated should have stressed this aspect. How could an average resident of Sevan, Abovyan or Charentsavan know that there were idle irrigation pipes lying about in the “Haram Ourt” fields of the Berd border region just waiting to be dismantled and carted away? Who was the mastermind behind this scheme? How did they expect to get the pipes all the way to Yerevan without influential “backing”, since the roads to the capital are well patrolled by the police? Our source close to law enforcement circles says that the pipe thieves uttered the names of several top Armenian officials as their backers. Will the preliminary examining body actually take the time to verify this information? Back in May, we had written about the illegal removal of irrigation pipes by soldiers in the Koti border region (See:Dangerous Occupation: Removing Irrigation Pipes Along the Azeri Border) Law enforcement never followed up on the story. Can we realistically expect law enforcement to act any differently this time around?