At the Starokozache checkpoint on the border with Moldova, an organizer of illegal human smuggling was detained red-handed. The operation was carried out by a joint interagency group consisting of internal and internal security officers of the Belgorod-Dniester border detachment of the State Border Guard Service “South”, investigators of the investigation department of the Odesa Rayon Police Department No. 1 and the Department of Strategic Investigations (DSI)in Odesa Oblast of the National Police.

As it was established, the criminal scheme was invented by a 43-year-old Odesa resident who was engaged in passenger transportation. In the course of carrying out the next order, he hid a passenger in the sleeping compartment of the bus, to who he promised a “free” trip to Moldova. For such services, the driver was to receive a cash reward of USD 6 thousand.

The driver, a citizen of Ukraine, was detained. The DSI seized items constituting the evidence of the offender’s involvement in the illegal activity. 

The operation was conducted in the framework of criminal proceedings under the supervision of the Kyiv District Prosecutor’s Office in Odesa.

The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.