On Thursday, August 20, in Krāslava, border guards detected 28 persons who had illegally crossed the State border from Belarus through a dug underground tunnel.
Officials of the State Border Guard detected 28 persons who had illegally crossed the State border. While establishing the circumstances of the illegal border crossing and conducting a more thorough inspection of the surrounding area, border guards in the area under the responsibility of the Kaplava Border Guard Unit discovered a dug underground tunnel concealed under moss, 20 metres from the border.
This is already the second case in which a tunnel has been used to illegally cross the State border into Latvia.
The 28 persons were prevented from illegally crossing the State border in accordance with Section 4 of the State Border Guard Law and were returned to the country of departure.
It was previously reported that on Monday, August 10, in the Skrudaliena Parish of Augšdaugava Municipality, border guards detected 15 persons who had illegally crossed the State border from Belarus through a dug underground tunnel.
To ensure the security of Latvia’s eastern border, Operation “VILKATIS” began on August 11. It is a targeted and coordinated Latvian response to the hybrid threat of instrumentalised illegal migration from the Belarusian side. Its aim is to significantly reduce cases of illegal border crossing in eastern Latvia and prevent such incidents in the future.
