Law enforcement officers exposed a group in Odesa region that tried to smuggle about 100 men across the state border on June 21. For their services, the dealers took from 5 to 18.5 thousand dollars from the fugitive. This was reported by the State Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday, UNN reports .
"SBI officers in cooperation with the SBU exposed a group in Odesa region that organized a large-scale scheme of illegal transportation of persons across the state border of Ukraine. It included a law enforcement officer," the statement said.
According to the SBI, was organized by a resident of Odesa region in May 2024. He searched for men who wanted to illegally leave Ukraine through social media and arranged payment. The men were taken to the state border, which they then crossed on foot.
The law enforcement officer was advising drivers on how to bypass checkpoints on their way to the border.
"On June 21, 2024, SBI officers documented an attempt to smuggle about 100 people across the state border. In particular, four minibuses with 47 people were stopped. The other 53 did not have time to reach the "collection point"," the SBI said.
For their services, the dealers charged from 5 to 18.5 thousand dollars. USD per person, depending on the client's financial capabilities. On this batch of fugitives alone, the criminals expected to earn about $1 million. THE AMOUNT OF MONEY WAS ABOUT 1 MILLION USD.
The group members have been detained.
They were served a notice of suspicion of organizing the illegal transportation of persons across the state border of Ukraine (Part 3 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The organizer and the law enforcement officer were imposed a pre-trial restraint in the form of detention for 60 days with the right to be released on bail: the organizer - UAH 13.6 million, the law enforcement officer - UAH 3 million.
The sanction of the article provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to 9 years.
All detained fugitives over the age of 25 were issued protocols and taken to the RTC.
The investigation is ongoing, and the full range of persons involved in the fraud is being identified.
The Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office is in charge of the proceedings.