Minister of Internal Affairs Rihards Kozlovskis revealed the incident on LTV's "Morning Panorama" news show and later in the day footage of the incident was published by the State Border Guard.
"A minibus that was similar, in fact an imitation of a border guard minibus, was detained last night in Škaune parish. One person was at the wheel and [there was] also a passenger, neither were citizens of Latvia. This time, in this case, the bus was detained without persons who have illegally crossed the [border]," said the minister.
The minister noted that the incident will be investigated and criminal proceedings will be initiated. It later emerged that the two persons arrested with the vehicle were Ukrainian citizens.
"I must also thank the border guard for this operative action, that they are able to obtain information and respond promptly. In this case, there was no danger, no persons were [illegally] moved, but persons have been detained in connection with this fact that I mentioned. (.. ) We are vigilant and were able to prevent this incident," said Kozlovskis.
Evaluating the fact that for the second time in a month, a vehicle imitating the cars of the internal affairs services was detected at the border, Kozlovskis pointed out that "organized crime is really looking for this kind of solutions".
"Unfortunately, this has always been the case in this illegal business, which is worth billions. This is the reality. Obviously, these penalties that we strengthened - now you can be imprisoned for 10 years for this type of activity. If we take the case of [a previous incident at] Aizkraukle, if these individuals would have succeeded in realizing their intention, maybe it would be a very big income for them. So, obviously, they are ready to take risks," said the minister.
On Tuesday, October 8, the State Police in cooperation with the State Border Guard in an intensive operation, conducting a continuous pursuit from the Belarus-Latvia state border which arrested 46 illegal migrants who crossed the border and two transporters who used a vehicle with fake police markings for criminal activities.
The people-smugglers have developed increasingly sophisticated means of trying to avoid detection of their illicit human cargoes. In another recent case, trucks were made to lok like they were carrying lumber, but had secret compartments intended for people.
