Police detain two Georgian citizens accused of transporting 15 migrants

Two Georgian citizens were detained in Ukmergė district after allegedly transporting 15 undocumented migrants, LRT reported. The detention was carried out on Wednesday in cooperation between Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service and police.

Police officers stopped a Poland-registered Opel Vivaro near Kurėnai village after receiving information from the Criminal Intelligence Division of the State Border Guard Service’s Vilnius Border Guard Unit. The driver jumped out of the vehicle and fled.

Officers found 15 men inside the vehicle who had no documents confirming their identity or citizenship. Three said they were Afghan citizens and 12 said they were Pakistani citizens.

Information about the escaped driver was passed to another police crew, which stopped a Lithuania-registered Volkswagen Passat a few minutes later near Rečionys village on the Ukmergė road. The driver, a Georgian citizen, matched the description of the Opel Vivaro driver. Another Georgian citizen was sitting in the back seat.

Both Georgian citizens were detained and taken to temporary detention facilities at the Vilnius Border Guard Unit.

The foreigners who had entered Lithuania unlawfully were handed over to officers at the Foreigners Registration Centre. After completing the necessary procedures, the centre returned them to colleagues in Latvia. Both vehicles are being held at the Vilnius Border Guard Unit.

The State Border Guard Service’s Vilnius Border Guard Unit has opened a pre-trial investigation into the unlawful transport of people across the state border for personal gain. The investigation is being led by a prosecutor from the Second Criminal Prosecution Division of the Vilnius Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

After assessing the available information, the prosecutor asked a court to order the suspects to be detained. The offence is punishable by a fine or up to eight years in prison.