The State Border Guard, monitoring border regions, spotted a fake State Police vehicle allegedly carrying border crossers. The vehicle was equipped not only with paintwork and lights, but also with a fake license plate belonging to a genuine police vehicle.
This information was immediately passed on to the State Police, which activated the special plan "Traps" in several regions and launched a search.
Shortly afterward, the police spotted the vehicle and launched a chase which lasted for about an hour from Laši in the Jēkabpils municipality to Staburags parish in the Aizkraukle municipality. The law enforcement officers repeatedly instructed the alleged offenders to stop the vehicle using the special light and sound signals of the operational vehicles, but the driver did not react. Law enforcement stopped the vehicle by shooting its tyres.
In the course of the events, two migrants were shot but are now in a stable condition in a medical facility. No vital organs were affected. Another required medical attention due to deteriorating health.
During the operation, one of the alleged smugglers was immediately apprehended, while the other passenger fled. The person managed to hide in the woods for several hours about 6 km from the abandoned vehicle. There, he was waiting for a taxi in which he had decided to continue his journey. However, he did not get far, because the Latgale Regional Directorate's operatives spotted a taxi parked in a suspicious place and a man matching the wanted person moving towards it from the forest. The man was detained.
The operation involved extensive resources from the Latgale, Zemgale and Riga regions of the State Police, including colleagues with drones, as well as a large force from the State Border Guard, including a helicopter.
Latvian Television counted 13 State Police crews at the scene. They also included vehicles from other services. One of the vehicles, which also says "Police" on it, turns out not to be a police vehicle. It was used by the detained persons. The van even says "Our work - for your safety", which is the slogan of the State Police.
"This is an absolute novelty, which is why we say that these people are so creative in their imagination and their ingenuity goes beyond the boundaries of reason," said Evita Galviņa, the head of the Eastern Zemgale Police Station.
The State Police said that there is another vehicle in Latvia with the same number plate and State Police licence plates, which are real.
The State Border Guard pointed out that the migrants could be from Somalia, but there is no doubt that they crossed the border with Belarus illegally and were therefore taken back to Belarus.
"We have suspected for several weeks that migrants could be transported in this way using forged police vans. We have been working on this together with the police," said Guntis Pujāts, Head of the State Border Guard Service.
Both the State Police and the Border Guard said that this was the largest operation in recent times with various complex elements.
The State Border Guard has initiated criminal proceedings against the carriers under Article 285.1(3) of the Criminal Law for knowingly providing a person with an opportunity to stay illegally in the Republic of Latvia if such an opportunity is provided to more than five persons.
Third-country citizens have been returned to their country of origin.
