Migrant smuggling in peat transport thwarted at Lithuanian border
Border Guards and customs officers detained a lorry with Romanian registration in Budzisko. Twenty-seven people attempting to illegally enter Poland were found hidden in the trailer carrying peat.
Migrant smuggling in peat transport thwarted at Lithuanian border
On Saturday morning at the checkpoint in Budzisko, another attempt at human trafficking was uncovered. Border Guard officers and customs and excise officials stopped a heavy goods vehicle whose trailer contained a load of peat. Twenty-seven people were hidden inside.
The vehicle's driver was a 50-year-old man with Romanian citizenship. During a search carried out by Customs and Excise Service officials, it was established that the trailer was transporting Somali nationals – eighteen people – as well as five men from Pakistan and four from Afghanistan. The migrants had been transported from Latvia.
The detained driver was charged with organising illegal border crossing. The Public Prosecutor's Office in Suwałki is conducting proceedings in this matter. Katarzyna Zdanowicz, spokeswoman for the Podlaskie Regional Border Guard, informed about the incident.
Earlier, in early July, services uncovered a similar operation. At that time, fifty-four people were found in a lorry, with a 37-year-old Romanian man at the wheel. That transport had also departed from Latvia.
Recently, smaller groups have also been detained in the vicinity of the Lithuanian border. Sixteen people were moving on foot, apprehended in two separate locations.
For one year – precisely since 7 July last year – temporary checks have been in place at the Lithuanian border. During this period, checks were carried out on 1.7 million people and over 930,000 vehicles. Entry was refused to 1,060 people. The Border Guard handed over 1,100 people to Lithuanian authorities under readmission arrangements.
The regulations provide for conducting checks until 1 October 2026 at thirteen points, including at the former crossings in Budzisko and Ogrodniki and at the railway crossing in Trakiszki.
Source: Bankier.pl
Source: Google News PL — Crime (pl)