Over the weekend of September 19 and 20, border guards, in cooperation with State Police officers, detained two individuals transporting persons who had illegally crossed the state border in the Krāslava and Līvāni municipalities.
On Saturday, September 19, State Police officers stopped a Volkswagen minibus driven by an Estonian citizen in Rugāji parish. Upon inspection of the vehicle, six individuals were found inside who lacked valid travel documents, visas, or residence permits and had previously crossed the Belarus-Latvia border illegally.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, September 20, while on patrol in Asūne parish, border guards stopped a Volkswagen minibus driven by a Latvian citizen. A document check revealed several traffic law violations, and it was determined that the driver was en route to pick up individuals who had illegally crossed the state border. A search operation was immediately launched, resulting in the discovery of 12 individuals in a nearby village who lacked valid travel documents, visas, or residence permits and had previously crossed the Belarus-Latvia border illegally. Criminal proceedings have been initiated against transporters under Section 285, Paragraph 3.1 of the Criminal Law for the illegal movement of persons across the state border—committed during a regime of enhanced border security or a state of emergency declared due to a threat to the inviolability of the state border, regardless of where within Latvian territory the offense occurred.
Eighteen individuals were prevented from illegally crossing the state border in accordance with Section 4 of the State Border Guard Law.
Additionally, it was found that an Estonian citizen was operating a vehicle despite a valid ban on driving, while a vehicle driven by a Latvian citizen lacked a valid state technical inspection and mandatory civil liability insurance (OCTA); the individual presented two vehicle registration certificates with numbers differing from those in the database, and the vehicle operation tax for using a foreign-registered car in Latvian road traffic had not been paid. State Police officers initiated administrative violation proceedings regarding these infractions. To ensure the security of Latvia’s eastern border, Operation "VILKATIS" (WEREWOLF) was launched on August 11; it represents a targeted and coordinated Latvian response to a hybrid threat—specifically, the instrumentalization of illegal migration from Belarus. The operation aims to significantly reduce the number of illegal border crossings in eastern Latvia and prevent such incidents in the future.
This year, the State Border Guard has already initiated 153 criminal proceedings (64 of which were separated from previously opened cases) against 112 individuals for the illegal transportation of persons and/or for facilitating the illegal stay of persons in Latvia. Individuals involved in these activities face severe prison sentences; for instance, in one case, an individual was sentenced to five years of imprisonment, while in another, the sentence was six years and one month.
The State Border Guard urges the public to refrain from engaging in any criminal activities related to organizing or carrying out the onward transport (by vehicle) of persons who have illegally crossed the state border to other locations within the European Union.
The sanction under the relevant article of the Criminal Law provides for a term of imprisonment of two to ten years for the illegal transportation of persons across the state border and the organization and commission of other criminal activities related to illegal migration to the Republic of Latvia, with or without confiscation of property and with or without probationary supervision for a period of up to three years.