Two Russian citizens detained in Polotsk district for organizing illegal migration
Two Russian citizens have been detained in Polotsk district for organizing illegal migration, as reported to BELTA by the head of the information and public relations department of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Andrei Semenikhin.
During operational search activities targeting participants of an international criminal group involved in organizing illegal migration, law enforcement officers of the Vitebsk region detained six citizens of Vietnam, one citizen of Iraq, and one citizen of Afghanistan on the evening of January 8 near a cafe located on the Vitebsk-Polotsk-Lithuanian border highway, close to the village of Baranovо, Polotsk district. These individuals were detained without exit visas of the Republic of Belarus and identity documents.
During initial investigative actions and operational measures, grounds arose to believe that the entry of these illegal immigrants into the territory of Belarus was organized by citizens of the Russian Federation born in 1982 and 1976. Currently, the men have been detained. A criminal case has been initiated against them by the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus for the Vitebsk region under Article 371-1, Part 2 ("Organization of illegal migration"), the sanctions of which provide for imprisonment from 3 to 7 years with possible confiscation of property. Active evidence collection is underway in this criminal case, noted the official representative of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus for the Vitebsk region, Inna Gorbacheva.