$13k for illegal border crossing: two suspects detained

In the Ternopil region, a former police officer and deputy head of the State Executive Service department of one of the regions is suspected of organizing the illegal transfer of military conscripts abroad.

According to the investigation, an official of the State Executive Service together with a former police officer promised to smuggle a conscripted resident of the Ternopil region across the state border of Ukraine outside official checkpoints to the Republic of Moldova for $13,000. The man was supposed to pay $5,000 in advance, and his wife was supposed to transfer the rest of the amount after crossing the border.

According to Huretska, the man paid an advance, but law enforcement officers stopped the car that was taking him to the border and exposed the organizers of the crossing.

Law enforcement officers, together with fighters from the KORD special unit, detained two members of the group when they were trying to take another “client” out of Ukraine.

The men were charged under Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — for illegal smuggling of persons across the state border of Ukraine, committed by a group of persons in a prior conspiracy. The sanction of the article provides for up to 9 years of imprisonment.

The issue of declaring suspicion to other persons involved in the criminal proceedings is currently being resolved. The investigation is ongoing. The investigation is being conducted by investigators of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Ternopil region with operational support from employees of the SBU department in the region. The Ternopil Regional Prosecutor's Office is responsible for procedural management.

Earlier, an official of the Regional State Administration was detained in Kyiv for a bribe.

We also reported that former Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Smirnov was charged with a new suspicion of taking a bribe of $100,000.