Human TraffickingNewsOrganised Crime

An international criminal group has been broken up

Officers from the Vistula Border Guard Unit defeated an international, organized crime group that specialized in organizing illegal migration for foreigners from the Transcaucasus countries. Five people were arrested, including the organizers of illegal practice.

The investigation in the case is supervised by the Mazowieckie Branch of the Department for Organized Crime and Corruption of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw. The members of the group were detained in Warsaw, Białystok and Terespol. They are three citizens of the Russian Federation of Chechen nationality, an Azerbaijani and a Pole. They are accused of having transferred at least several dozen foreigners from the countries of the Transcaucasia region through Poland, and then to Western Europe, within a few months.

During the search of the suspects’ homes, the officers seized disks, telephones, SIM cards, and various documents containing information about the criminal activities of the group. The suspects were charged with participating in an organized criminal group and organizing illegal border crossings for other people. On the basis of the collected evidence and at the prosecutor’s request, the court applied three-month detention to the two Russian suspects. For the rest – Azerbaijani, a Pole and a Russian – a free preventive measure in the form of police supervision and a ban on leaving Poland, and additionally, a property guarantee for one of the detained Russians.