Romanian and Spanish nationals detained for smuggling 17 irregular migrants in Lithuania

Lithuanian border guards and police have detained a Romanian and a Spanish national in the Ukmergė district for smuggling 17 undocumented migrants, LRT reports.

On Wednesday morning, acting on intelligence from the Vilnius Border Guard Service’s Criminal Intelligence Unit, police in Ukmergė attempted to stop a Toyota Proace with Latvian licence plates near Pageležiai village. The driver, a 28-year-old Romanian, initially refused to stop and accelerated towards Kaunas. Officers eventually blocked the road with a service vehicle and detained the car after a short pursuit.

Inside the vehicle, authorities found 17 undocumented migrants of various nationalities—seven from Somalia, four from Sudan, three from Burundi, two from Eritrea, and one from Algeria. None possessed valid identity or citizenship documents. A 25-year-old Spanish national was also present in the car.

The Romanian driver and the Spanish passenger were arrested and placed in a detention facility in Vilnius. Investigators from the Vilnius Regional Prosecutor’s Office have launched a pre-trial investigation into human smuggling across state borders for financial gain, which carries a penalty of up to eight years in prison. The Toyota Proace has been temporarily seized by the Vilnius Border Guard Service.

In a separate incident in Utena on Tuesday, border guards and police detained two drivers transporting seven undocumented migrants, all claiming to be from Sudan. The first vehicle, a Škoda Octavia with Czech plates, was driven by a 27-year-old Ukrainian national. The second, a BMW with Lithuanian plates, was driven by a 21-year-old Lithuanian. The migrants attempted to flee but were apprehended. Two additional pre-trial investigations have been opened by prosecutors from the Panevėžys Regional Prosecutor’s Office for the same offence.