On Friday, June 26, in Krāslava Municipality, border guards detained an offender who was transporting persons, who had illegally crossed the State border. The offender used a minibus with a forged (duplicate) license plate that matched the registration number of an actual vehicle belonging to the Latvian Armed Forces to carry out the criminal activity.
Border guards, in Skaista Parish, spotted a Volkswagen minibus on a local road driven by an Estonian citizen, with another Estonian citizen in the front passenger seat. Upon inspecting the vehicle, they found 11 persons in the minibus who did not possess valid travel documents, visas, or residence permits. The persons had previously illegally crossed the Belarus–Latvia border. It was also established that the vehicle’s license plate is forged and corresponds to an actual vehicle of the Latvian Armed Forces.
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.
11 persons were prevented from illegally crossing the State border in accordance with Section 4 of the State Border Guard Law.
The State Border Guard has already initiated 89 criminal proceedings this year for the illegal transportation of persons and/or providing persons with the opportunity to stay illegally in Latvia (of which 26 were separated from previously initiated criminal proceedings) against 77 persons.
Since August 11, 2021, an enhanced border surveillance regime has been in force in certain administrative territories of Latvia. Under this regime, the National Armed Forces and the State Police provide support to the State Border Guard in ensuring surveillance of the Latvia–Belarus border in order to prevent illegal border crossings.
The vigilance of local residents and the timely provision of information about suspicious activities in border areas also play a significant role in strengthening State border security. We express our gratitude to residents who support border guards by reporting suspicious persons and vehicles.
In cases where residents observe persons or groups of persons who are not characteristic of the ethnic and national composition of the Republic of Latvia (their appearance indicates that they may be third-country nationals), they are urged to immediately inform officials of the State Border Guard or the State Police by using the unified emergency telephone number 112 (available 24 hours a day) or by contacting the operational duty officer of the Daugavpils Board of the State Border Guard at telephone number 65403777, mobile number 22020361, or email: dap.od@rs.gov.lv.