In Lviv region, law enforcement officers detained a 31-year-old resident of Poltava region, suspected of organising a channel for the illegal transfer of men liable for military service to the Republic of Moldova for 7 thousand US dollars. This was reported by the Lviv region police and the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the investigation, under martial law the suspect developed for one of the citizens liable for military service a detailed plan for the illegal crossing of the state border of Ukraine, bypassing border control points and for subsequent transfer to Moldova.
The scheme provided for a transfer: taking the “client” from Lviv to Khmelnytskyi region, where the organiser’s accomplices were to meet him and take him to a designated border crossing point. The man received detailed instructions on rules of conduct and secrecy, a list of necessary items and the amount of money he should have with him. On the trafficker’s instructions, the “client” also bought metal cutting shears, which he was to use while crossing the border.
On 24 October, the organiser arrived in Lviv for the “client” in a Tesla Model 3 car and received from him the agreed sum – 7 thousand US dollars. After the transfer of the money, he was detained by law enforcement officers under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.
The individual was exposed by investigators of the department for the investigation of general criminal offences of the investigative directorate of the Lviv region police, together with operatives of the Strategic Investigations Department of the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police of Ukraine and the 27th Border Detachment named after the Heroes of the Carpathian Sich, under the procedural guidance of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
The detainee has been notified of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal transfer of persons across the state border of Ukraine). The sanction of this article provides for a penalty of imprisonment for a term of seven to nine years, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years, with confiscation of property. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing, and in the near future the court is to choose a preventive measure for the suspect.