Organized smuggling of fugitives abroad: police expose another scheme
Kyiv • UNN
Ukrainian law enforcers expose illegal scheme of smuggling men of military age from Ukraine bypassing official checkpoints
Transcarpathian law enforcement officers exposed a group of dealers who organized another scheme to smuggle men of military age out of Ukraine outside official checkpoints. Two members of the group were notified of suspicion, the National Police reports, UNN writes.
Details
According to the police, a 33-year-old resident of Berehove district organized the smuggling of men of military age out of Ukraine outside official checkpoints. He also recruited local men as accomplices.
"Each of the defendants performed a separate task in ensuring the functioning of the "corridor" to European countries. To avoid checkpoints on the border, the organizer of the scheme put the evaders on a train heading to a certain settlement several kilometers from the Ukrainian-Romanian border," the police said.
Another member of the group was already waiting for the men at the border, whose task was to take the clients to the state border.
On January 17, operatives detained one of the members of a criminal group while trying to smuggle two citizens to Romania bypassing a checkpoint. Another member of the group was detained at his place of residence, where, among other things, they found $7,000 that the offender had received from the fugitives for organizing the departure, the police said.
"The organizer of the illegal smuggling channel and his accomplice, who acted as a taxi driver, were detained by law enforcement officers in accordance with Article 208 of the CPC of Ukraine and served with a notice of suspicion. The issue of choosing a measure of restraint for the detainees is currently being decided," the police added.
Addendum
Law enforcers remind that for illegal transportation of persons across the state border of Ukraine (Part 3 of Art. 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), the offenders face imprisonment for up to nine years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years with confiscation of property.
During the pre-trial investigation, law enforcement officers are identifying other persons involved in the scheme.
Recall
In 2023, border guards detected several thousand violators who used forged documents to travel abroad.
