On Saturday, October 3, in Krāslava Municipality, border guards, in cooperation with soldiers of the National Armed Forces, detained a Latvian citizen who was transporting persons who had illegally crossed the State border.
In Andrupene Parish, soldiers of the National Armed Forces, who provide support to the border guards, stopped a Chrysler vehicle driven by a Latvian citizen. Upon inspecting the vehicle, they found five persons inside who did not have valid travel documents, visas, or residence permits. These 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.
Furthermore, during a document check, it was established that the Latvian citizen presented a forged Polish Driving Licence. Criminal proceedings were initiated for the use of a forged document under Section 275, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Law. It was also established that the person is subject to a ban on exercising driving rights under Section 30, Paragraph 2, Clause 4 of the Road Traffic Law, as he had failed to undergo an early medical examination.
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 posed by the instrumentalization of illegal migration from Belarus. Its aim is to significantly reduce the number of illegal border crossings in the eastern part of Latvia and to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.
The State Border Guard has already initiated 158 criminal proceedings this year for the illegal transportation of persons and/or providing persons with the opportunity to stay illegally in Latvia (of which 66 were separated from previously initiated criminal proceedings) against 115 persons. For the aforementioned actions, persons are subject to severe prison sentences. For example, in one case, a person was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison; in another case, to 6 years and 1 month.
The State Border Guard urges persons to refrain from engaging in any criminal activities related to organizing or facilitating the onward movement (transport by motor vehicle) within the European Union of persons who have illegally crossed the State border.
The sanction provided for under the relevant section of the Criminal Law stipulates a lengthy prison sentence of 2 to 10 years for the unlawful transportation of persons across the State border, as well as for organizing and carrying out other criminal activities related to illegal migration to the Republic of Latvia. The sentence may include confiscation of property or may be imposed without property confiscation, and may also include probation supervision for a period of up to three years or without it.