On Monday, September 29, border guards, in cooperation with State Police officers, detained four Latvian citizens in Balvi Municipality who were attempting to move several dozen strong narcotics across the State border.
During operational activities measures, border guards in Šķilbēni Parish, Balvi Municipality, detected persons engaged in the illegal movement of goods toward the State border. When the border guards attempted to detain them, the persons disobeyed lawful orders and tried to flee.
With the assistance of a dog handler and a service dog, approximately 100 meters from the State border, three bags containing suspected smuggled goods were discovered.
Continuing the operational activities measures, border guards stopped two vehicles on the Cērpene–Balvi road and detained two Latvian citizens - accomplices to the criminal offence - for attempting to illegally transport smuggled goods.
A short time later, in cooperation with State Police officials, border guards in the same area of Balvi Municipality stopped a Volkswagen Passat in which they found a person responsible for transporting the previously mentioned bags, along with his accomplice.
Criminal proceedings were initiated under Section 190(3) of the Criminal Law for smuggling committed in a large scale. During the investigation, with the appropriate authorization, the case was transferred to the Tax and Customs Police Department of the State Revenue Service for further procedural actions, as an inspection of the bags revealed a dark-colored solid substance, suspected to be hashish.