During the night from Saturday to Sunday, as a result of prolonged operational measures, border guards stopped two Latvia-registered vehicles — Škoda Octavia and BMW — on the A12 national road in Degšāre Parish, Rēzekne Municipality. The vehicles were driven by Latvian nationals. In the passenger compartment of the Škoda Octavia, border guards discovered five Afghan citizens who had previously crossed the State border illegally.
While on Sunday evening, two more cases of transporting persons who had illegally crossed the State border were detected in Ezernieki Parish, Krāslava Municipality, on national road P52. Near the village of Ezernieki, a BMW vehicle was stopped in which two Estonian citizens were transporting five persons who had illegally crossed the State border. An hour later, an Audi A6 was stopped in the direction from Šķaune to Ezernieki. The driver, a Latvian citizen, initially ignored the order to stop and stopped the vehicle only about 100 meters further, thereby giving himself and the passengers an opportunity to try to escape. However, the attempt to escape was unsuccessful — after a warning shot was fired into the air, the driver, a Latvian citizen, was detained, and a few minutes later, two Ethiopian citizens and one Yemeni citizen, who had previously crossed the Latvia–Belarus State border illegally, were also detained.
Criminal proceedings were initiated against the “carriers” — two Estonian and three Latvian nationals — under Section 285.1(2) of the Criminal Law, for ensuring two or more persons the possibility to reside illegally in the Republic of Latvia.
All 13 persons were prevented from illegally crossing the state border in accordance with Section 4 of the State Border Guard Law.
It should be noted that the State Border Guard has already initiated 42 criminal proceedings against 46 persons this year for the illegal movement of persons and/or providing persons with the possibility to reside illegally in Latvia, while last year 38 criminal proceedings were initiated against 49 persons for identical actions.
The State Border Guard also draws attention to the fact that activities related to the illegal movement of persons, as well as providing the possibility to reside illegally in Latvia, are unlawful and criminally punishable. In addition, since the end of 2023, amendments to the Criminal Law have been adopted, introducing harsher penalties, including long-term deprivation of liberty.
Considering that a reinforced border security operation regime is in effect throughout Latvia until December 31, 2025, regardless of the location where the offense is committed, offenders involved in organizing and supporting the illegal movement of persons may be punished with imprisonment for a term of two to ten years, with or without confiscation of property, and with probation supervision for up to three years or without it.