Further members of the organised criminal group were detained

Officers from the Nadodrzański Branch of the Border Guard and the Central Investigation Bureau of the Police, under the supervision of the National Prosecutor’s Office, detained another eight members of the organised crime group broken up in November last year. Its members transported foreigners from Romania through Poland to the countries of Western Europe. Such a “trip” cost from 6.5 to 20 thousand. dollars.

Officers from the Border Guard Post in Zgorzelec and police officers from the Management Board in Wrocław The Central Police Investigation Bureau have been conducting investigations for many months under the supervision of the Lower Silesian Off-Camp Department of the Department of Organized Crime and Corruption of the National Prosecutor’s Office in Wrocław. The case concerned an organised criminal group organizing transfer channels to Western Europe for foreigners.

In November last year, on the basis of the collected evidence, officers of the Border Guard and CBŚP detained in the province. Lower Silesia, Lubuskie, Greater Poland and Masovia 10 people, including 9 Poles and 1 citizen of Vietnam. This year, however, officers from the SG Post in Zgorzelec, together with officers of the Management Board of the Central Bureau of Investigation in Wroclaw, with the support of Europol officers, as part of this case carried out further activities on a large scale. As a result of searches of residential and utility rooms of ten places in the province. Mazowieckie, Podlaskie, Dolnośląskie and Lubuskie regions, 7 Poles and one citizen of Vietnam – members of an international criminal group – were arrested. This group was involved in organizing foreigners of Arabic origin and Vietnamese citizens to transfer from the Romanian territory the so-called along the Balkan route to Poland and further to one of the countries of Western Europe, mainly to Germany, France and England. The group moved foreigners hidden in specially made for this purpose lockers in trucks and buses, in the transported cargo, but also in special lockers made for this purpose, e.g. in furnaces with a feeder. It was established that the group for the transfer of one foreigner to the country of his choice received from 10,000 up to 20 thousand dollars.

The members of the group had at their disposal Lubuskie, Dolnośląskie and Śląskie with numerous places where foreigners were hidden before the next stage of transfer to the destination country. They also had refrigerated vehicles specially prepared for this purpose, where professional lockers were made, enabling the hidden transport of up to 6 people. In addition, the group had furnaces with a feeder and a control system specially made for this purpose, where one foreigner could be thrown in secret. The cache was equipped with a breathing mask and oxygen bottle. One of the accused testified during the interrogation that by entering such a hiding place, he could only stay in it for an hour. The trip was to take foreigners, however, several dozen hours. The driver who carried the load had transport documentation, which he showed in the event of an inspection by border services.

The criminal group operated in the period from July 2018 to November 2019. Investigators estimated that during this period the criminals transferred at least 150 foreigners to Western European countries. The members of the group detained in June were brought to the Lower Silesian Branch of the Department for Organized Crime and Corruption of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office in Wrocław, where they were charged with participating in an organized criminal group that organized foreigners to cross the Polish border contrary to the regulations. As regards three Poles and a Vietnamese citizen, the court applied pre-trial detention for a period of three months, while the remaining persons were granted bail. Police supervision and a ban on leaving the country were also ordered against them.

The prosecutor of the Lower Silesian Branch of the Department for Organized Crime and Corruption of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office in Wrocław filed a bill of indictment with the Regional Court in Wrocław against 11 persons belonging to this group. The case is of a developmental nature. Currently, there are 19 suspects in the investigation. Charges of indictments have been filed against the arrested 11 members of an organized crime group, and 10 members of the group are in pre-trial detention pending the case. The offenses charged with suspects are punishable by up to 8 years imprisonment.