This morning, May 13, border guards checking information received about suspicious persons detained a group of 12 persons in the territory of the Baldone sanatorium.
During the interview, it was established that 11 Indian and one Pakistani citizen, who had managed to almost reach the capital, had previously illegally crossed the Latvian-Belarusian border.
The persons were detained in accordance with Section 51 of the Immigration Law and placed in the State Border Guard Accommodation Centre for Detained Foreigners "Daugavpils".
This year, 10 criminal proceedings have been initiated against 15 persons under Section 285 of the Criminal Law (illegal movement of a person across the state border) and Section 285.1 (ensuring the possibility to residing illegally in the Republic of Latvia).
It has already been reported that as of October 2023, amendments to the Criminal Law have entered into force, which provide for harsher penalties for the illegal movement of persons across the state border and the organisation and commitment of other criminal activities related to illegal migration to the Republic of Latvia. The new amendments also provide for lengthy imprisonment.
The State Border Guard has already informed that another prison sentence has been imposed in March for illegal movement of persons across the state border – a court has imposed a real imprisonment of six years and one month on a Pakistani citizen.