Court jails Bulgarian for smuggling migrants into Estonia

Pärnu County Court has sentenced a Bulgarian citizen for bringing migrants who entered Estonia unlawfully into the country, ERR reported. The man must serve three months of a one-year-and-ten-month prison sentence immediately, after which he will be deported to Bulgaria and barred from entering Estonia for five years.

Police arrested him on October 6 near the border between Kose parish and Järva County. Seven foreign nationals who had entered Estonia unlawfully were found in his vehicle.

Investigators said the 63-year-old Bulgarian, who lives in Germany, responded to a job advertisement on TikTok. His bus ticket from Germany to Riga and hotel accommodation were paid for, and a rental car was arranged. Following instructions, he drove to an agreed location near Latvia’s border with Belarus, picked up the seven migrants and headed towards Tallinn. Police stopped the vehicle on the Tallinn-Tartu highway.

At the prosecutor’s request, a court has remanded a German citizen and two Pakistani citizens in custody over the transport of nine migrants in Tori and Häädemeeste parishes. Two Ukrainian citizens were also remanded after being caught in Paldiski while trying to take two migrants onto a ferry bound for Sweden. The suspects will remain in custody during the pre-trial investigation.

Since migration pressure began in July, police have detained nearly 320 people who arrived in Estonia without legal grounds. Nearly 50 criminal investigations have been opened into the smuggling of migrants across the Estonian border. Eleven people suspected of human smuggling are currently in custody, and two have been sentenced to prison.

The law allows a prison sentence of up to three years for illegally bringing a foreign national across Estonia’s border. If the person is placed in a life-threatening situation or one that could seriously harm their health, the maximum sentence is seven years. Prosecutor Keili Tiirik said proceeds from the crimes would be confiscated if identified.