On Tuesday, August 18, in Krāslava Municipality, soldiers of the National Armed Forces detained another offender who was transporting persons who had illegally crossed the State border.
In Robežnieki Parish, National Armed Forces soldiers stopped a Volvo vehicle on the road, driven by a Latvian non-citizen. Upon inspecting the vehicle, five persons were found in the passenger compartment and luggage compartment without valid travel documents, visas, or residence permits. The persons had previously illegally crossed the Belarus–Latvia border.
Criminal proceedings were initiated against the “carriers” under Section 285, Paragraph 3¹ of the Criminal Law for the illegal transportation of persons across the State border, if committed during the enhanced border surveillance regime or during a State of emergency declared due to a threat to the inviolability of the State border, regardless of where in the territory of Latvia the offense was committed.
The five persons were prevented from illegally crossing the State border in accordance with Article 4 of the State Border Guard Law.
The State Border Guard has already initiated 125 criminal proceedings this year for the illegal transportation of persons and/or providing persons with the opportunity to stay illegally in Latvia (of which 46 were separated from previously initiated criminal proceedings) against 101 persons.
Since August 10, Operation “VILKATIS” has been underway in Latvia. It is a set of measures to limit illegal migration carried out over a specified period, with the aim of significantly reducing cases of illegal border crossing in the eastern part of Latvia through enhanced cross-sectoral cooperation and preventing such incidents in the future.