From 7 to 18 October 2024, the State Border Guard of Latvia (hereafter - LVA SBG) participated in the Joint Action Days “MOBILE 7” organised in the margins of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT) (hereafter - the Operation). The objective of the Operation was to detect various types of criminal offences in the field of vehicle operation, including smuggling of stolen vehicles (including agricultural machinery) and their parts, as well as smuggling of stolen vessels at designated border crossing points at the external borders of the Member States of the European Union, to reduce the pressure of illegal migration at the external borders of the Member States, as well as to detect the document fraud signs of falsification of travel documents presented by persons crossing the border at the border crossing points at the external borders of the Member States of the European Union.
The Operation was coordinated by Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency in cooperation with EUROPOL and INTERPOL, involving the police, border guard and customs authorities of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, as well as from third countries - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Moldova and Switzerland.
LVA SBG with the support of the State Police of Latvia conducted additional checks to enhance the efficiency of border control and prevent potential violations. Several structural units of the LVA SBG were involved in the Operation at the external land and sea border of the Republic of Latvia.
A coordination centre of the Operation was set up at the Frontex Headquarters in Warsaw (Poland), where LVA SBG appointed coordinator was involved for the duration of the Operation, ensuring the coordination of activities of Latvian structural units with Frontex and other participants. The LVA SBG coordinator participated on a daily basis in meetings organised by Frontex, gathering and analyzing the received information on detected violations.
The LVA SBG collaborated closely with Frontex and other participants to achieve the operation’s goals. As the result of the Operation, several violations were uncovered at the border crossing points, the smuggling of stolen vehicles and equipment was prevented, and multiple attempts to cross the border illegally using forged documents were detected. In total during the Operation the following detections at the external borders of the European Union were made: 462 stolen vehicles, 3 584 stolen vehicle parts, 7 stolen boats, 33 stolen boat motors, 182 false vehicle documents, 1 487 illegal migrants, 229 migrant smugglers, 37 forged personal identification documents, 11 firearms, 1 259 rounds of ammunitions, 23 kg of narcotic substances, 27 million cigarettes, 45 forged driver’s licenses and other violations, as well as 20 383 checks were conducted in the European Union’s databases.
The results of the Operation demonstrated the critical importance of international cooperation in combating cross-border crime and highlighted the significant role of Frontex-coordinated activities in operations of such type and scale. The LVA SBG will continue to strengthen its cooperation with international partners to ensure effective border control and prevent criminal activity at the external borders of the Republic of Latvia and of the European Union.