Previously, trucks were used to hide counterfeit cigarettes, but now - people, - Lysenko, deputy head of National Police’s Strategic Investigations Department
Previously, contraband cigarettes were transported in hidden compartments of trucks and buses at the border, but now it is people. Criminals use trucks, regular buses, cars with trailers, and even schemes involving children to mislead border guards.
This was stated by Denys Lysenko, deputy head of the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police, in an interview with Censor.NET.
"Previously, contraband cigarettes were hidden in the niches of railway carriages, trucks and tourist buses, but now they are trying to transport people across the border in this way. For example, a truck is travelling with some equipment or building materials. They set up a hiding place there, where 3-4 people can fit. If each person paid 15 thousand dollars, you've already earned 60 thousand on this," he said.
Also, according to Lysenko, there have been cases where hiding places with people were found in international buses.
"Such buses have a compartment for drivers to rest. It is located in the passenger compartment. There is a small niche where a person can lie down and no one can see them. So what do they do? They make a niche between the luggage compartment and the second driver's sleeping area, put a person in it, and that's how they cross the border. In addition, they try to transport people in cars with trailers. In one case, the hiding place was equipped and covered with construction waste," he added.
Lysenko also described another scheme.
"Here we are talking about the Odesa region. Two women get into a car. They are hiding a child, and in addition, they take a fugitive with them. Together they drive to the transit road - the border guards issue a control ticket stating that there are three people in the car.
Then, in a pre-arranged place, the male fugitive gets out of the car and runs away towards Moldova. After that, the women take the child out of the hiding. At the exit from the transit zone, the number of passengers matches the number at the entrance — three again. So the border guards have no questions," he added
Read the interview with Denys Lysenko, Deputy Head of the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police, for Censor.NET at the link.
