LETA was told at the State Border Guard that two groups of foreigners, each of which included ten citizens of Vietnam, were held in the regions of Aluksne and Krustpils last Friday, while a larger group of illegal immigrants, which included 17 citizens of Vietnam, was stopped in Karsava region last Saturday.
Nine traffickers - six Estonian and three Russian citizens - were also detained for smuggling the Vietnamese into Latvia.
A second group of illegal immigrants that had entered Latvia from Estonia has been detained in Latvia in recent month. Border guards say that the new trend suggests of Estonian citizens’ active involvement in the trafficking of migrants from Russia to the EU.
They have been trying new routes for smuggling migrants across the Russian-Estonian border and the Russian-Latvian border.
Criminal probes have been launched over trespassing of the state border and illegal transportation of persons across the state border.
More than 300 foreigners who had entered Latvia illegally have been deported from the Baltic country since the beginning of this year.
