A resident of Latvia, who was previously detained last year for transporting illegal migrants, has been caught by the police again. This time, the man was stopped near Daugavpils after a chase — migrants who had illegally entered the country through Belarus were found in his car.
A smuggler of illegal migrants was detained again in Latgale, who had previously come to the attention of law enforcement for a similar crime. Despite the criminal proceedings and arrest, the man resumed transporting people who had illegally crossed the border less than a year later.
According to the Degpunktā program (TV3), last year a Latvian citizen was detained near Valle in the Bauska region. At that time, he attempted to flee from the police, but was caught after an accident along with six passengers of Asian descent.
Four foreigners were subsequently expelled from the country, while two individuals, including a pregnant woman, were granted asylum on humanitarian grounds.
Criminal proceedings were initiated against the smuggler. During the investigation, he was arrested, but later released after posting a large bail.
Now the story has repeated itself.
This time, the smuggler was detained in the Tabore parish near Daugavpils. According to border guards, he was again transporting migrants — five men who had illegally entered Latvia from Belarus.
By the time of the detention, the passengers had managed to flee into the forest, but they were later found and apprehended.
Maris Pukinskis, deputy head of the Daugavpils office of the State Border Guard, reported that the driver behaved surprisingly calmly after being stopped.
“He sat calmly, explaining that he simply did not hear or see that he was being stopped,” said the border guard representative.
According to Pukinskis, the man was essentially pretending not to understand why he was being detained at all. Later, all the migrants were sent back to where they had come from.
Law enforcement agencies note that most of these smugglers take risks for quick and relatively large sums of money.
“The determining factor is material values. It’s money,” says Pukinskis.
The amounts can vary significantly depending on the route and final destination. According to border guard representatives, the entire journey of a migrant from their country of origin to Western Europe can cost around 10,000 euros.
Latvia, meanwhile, is rarely the final destination for illegal migrants. Most often, people try to get further — to Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and other Western European countries.
The border guard also notes that the detained man had previously had legal issues — he had been caught for thefts before.
For assisting illegal migrants in crossing the border and transporting them within Latvia, the law provides for a prison sentence of two to ten years.
The situation in Latgale shows that even criminal cases and arrests do not always stop those who view the transportation of migrants as a source of easy money.
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