On November 1, the State Border Guard detained 25 irregular migrants and two suspected people smugglers (“carriers”), who were using a vehicle with a fake stencil that looked like the logo of the State Border Guard and a duplicated real vehicle licence plate for criminal activities.
The State Border Guard, while monitoring the border areas, noticed a fake State Border Guard vehicle, which may have been used to transport border violators. The vehicle was not only with stencil, but also had a fake licence plate, corresponding to an actual border guard vehicle.
Border guards stopped a Renault Master minibus in Šķaune Parish. During a check on documents, both the driver and the passenger were found to be Ukrainian citizens. It was established that the men were attempting to smuggle 25 persons of Asian origin who were in the vicinity of the stopped vehicle and had illegally crossed the Belarusian-Latvian border.
Criminal proceedings were initiated against the “carriers” under Section 2851(3) of the Criminal Law, for knowingly ensuring a person with the possibility of reside illegally in the Republic of Latvia, if such a possibility is provided for more than five persons.
25 third-country nationals are stopped from illegally crossing the state border in accordance with the Cabinet Order No 184 of March 12, 2024 "Regarding Declaration of the Reinforced Operating Regime of the Border Guarding System".