While monitoring the border in Škaune parish, the border guards found signs of illegal crossing of the border, as previously reported. The search for those responsible was led by a canine handler with a service dog.
In the vicinity of the village of Troniški – close to both the Russian and Belarusian borders – upon noticing the border guards, the offenders tried to run away, but to no avail. The border guards used their service firearm to fire a warning shot in the air.
Four Indian and four Iranian citizens were detained at the scene. The men were returned to their country of departure in accordance with the regulatory framework established by the emergency situation.
As previously reported by LSM, an enhanced security regime for 6 months was recently announced along Latvia's eastern border.
Recent days have seen an increase in the numbers of attempted illegal border crossings, as Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko's international people-smuggling operation appears to have been revived. Recent incidents have seen sections of border fence cut with the connivance of Belarusian border forces.
On Tuesday, August 8 alone, officials of the State Border Guard prevented the attempt of 35 people to illegally cross the border between Latvia and Belarus. In total, 5,496 people have been prevented from illegally crossing the state border this year.
Due to humanitarian reasons, 7 people were not denied crossing the state border during the past 24 hours. A total of 286 people have been admitted this year for humanitarian reasons. 37 offenders were found on the external borders and inside the country.
