The smuggler of illegal immigrants, who had been 2 years in hiding, was convicted

The sentence of the Uzhgorod city and district court against the 55-year-old local resident, born in Irshava district – one of the members of the organized criminal group, who tried to smuggle 19 illegal immigrants across the state border of Ukraine, has entered into force.

In 2009, a resident of the village of Zarichchya in Irshava district with another local resident and a resident of the village of Vlasovka of Krasnodon district in Luhansk region, planned the trafficking of foreign nationals through the Ukraine-Russia border. The offenders were to find a group of illegal immigrants in the capital of the Russian Federation, and from there to smuggle them through Ukraine to EU countries. Transcarpathians by truck arrived at the outskirts of Moscow, where they met the 19 illegal workers – natives of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

First, illegals were secretly taken to the area adjacent to the state border between Russia and Ukraine. Then the Luhansk accomplice led foreigners across Russian-Ukrainian border bypassing the checkpoints. Then, the offenders intended to transport a group of illegal immigrants by a truck from Luhansk region to Transcarpathia.  On the same day offenders and foreigners were found and detained by the police, but the 55-year-old Transcarpathian managed to escape.

As part of the criminal case under Part 2 of Art.332 (trafficking of persons across the state border of Ukraine, committed by a conspiracy) the fugitive was declared wanted by the police. In July 2012, the officers of the Security Service of Ukraine in Transcarpathian region detained him. 

Uzhgorod City and District Court convicted the citizen of Ukraine and sentenced him to 4 years imprisonment with establishing probationary period of 2 years.  The same punishment was set by the court to his accomplices, the resident of Irshava – in April 2011, and the native of Lugansk region – in February 2010.