Kansas National Guard member indicted after agreeing to photograph Fort Riley, send equipment to Russia: DOJ

FORT RILEY (KSNT) - Federal officials have indicted a member of the Kansas National Guard after he allegedly agreed to take photos of Fort Riley Army on behalf of a Russian intelligent agent and ship a helicopter radio overseas.

The Department of Justice said in a press release that law enforcement arrested Canyon A. Amarys, 28, of Alamogordo, New Mexico on Oct. 28 in connection to his indictment for the attempted violation of the Export Control Reform Act. His indictment stems from his alleged involvement with a Russian intelligence agent earlier this year.

The DOJ said Amarys allegedly met in February 2025 with someone he believed to be a Russian intelligence agent and signed an agreement to confirm his covert relationship with the Russian intelligence service. He also allegedly agreed to take photos of a military installation that is part of the Fort Riley Army Post and to get a helicopter radio for later use by the Russian military.

Amarys purchased the helicopter radio in March 2025 and traveled to Kansas in order to retrieve it and send it to an individual in Romania, according to the DOJ. U.S. export laws prevent this action and investigators later recovered the radio Amarys allegedly sought to illegally send out of the country.

The Kansas City office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating this case with help from the U.S. Army Counterintelligence Command, the Kansas National Guard, the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Prosecutors for the case include Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Rask of the District of Kansas and Trial Attorney David Ryan of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.

Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf