Former French Foreign Legionnaire arrested in Riga after evading extradition to Germany
The State Police in Riga has arrested a former French Foreign Legion soldier who is accused in Germany of organising an abduction. The man had evaded enforcement of an extradition order.
Former French Foreign Legionnaire arrested in Riga after evading extradition to Germany
Officials from the State Police, in cooperation with the special unit "Omega", have arrested a man born in 1990 in the capital who previously served in the French Foreign Legion. He had evaded extradition to German law enforcement authorities.
The arrested man is accused of organising the abduction of a person on German territory. This crime was uncovered in November of last year during an international operation involving law enforcement agencies from Latvia, Germany, Denmark and France, as well as Europol.
The investigation established that a rival criminal group had paid mercenaries to abduct the leader of an Albanian drug trafficking network. This person is linked to the theft of several tonnes of cannabis worth several million euros.
On the day of the operation, four Latvian citizens were simultaneously arrested, each in their respective country. Two of the accomplices had previously been convicted in Germany for a similar crime in 2014.
After the initial arrest, the court refused to apply detention despite a police request. It was decided to trust the man's promises to cooperate. The individual was informed of the time and place where he would be handed over to German representatives, and he confirmed receipt of the information, but failed to appear.
Since the security measure was not linked to deprivation of liberty, the man was able to move freely and went into hiding. The Prosecutor's Office turned to the police to arrest him, pointing out that a criminal's deliberate concealment is a criminally punishable offence.
Europol has pointed to a concerning trend — former special forces soldiers, including legionnaires, upon return from combat zones may use their skills in criminal activities. Such a phenomenon is increasingly being observed in various European operations.
Source: liepajniekiem.lv
Source: Google News LV — Crime (lv)