The five offenders were detained by operatives of the Chernivtsi Border Guard Detachment in cooperation with the border patrol of the Seliatyn department and officers of the SBU Military Counterintelligence and the SBI.

Under the procedural supervision of the Chernivtsi Specialized Military and Defense Prosecutor’s Office, in the framework of criminal proceedings under Art. 332 of the Criminal Code, SBGS operatives found that a local resident organized the trafficking of five men of military age to Romania for a cash reward of USD 4.5 to 5 thousand per person. The offenders were detained by a joint interagency group while they were moving to the border. The car the men were traveling in was stopped on one of the mountain roads in the Vyzhnytsia raion of Chernivtsi oblast.

Later, during the searches of the suspects’ residences, law enforcement officers seized binoculars, mobile phones, bank cards and a hunting rifle. The organizer’s accomplices were also detained.

Later, as a result of operational and search operations, the main organizer of the illegal transportation of persons across the state border was detained in one of the settlements of Vyzhnytsia raion.

Protocols were drawn up against those wishing to illegally travel abroad. The organizer and his accomplices face criminal liability.