Lidovky: 49 migrant smugglers from Ukraine detained in the Czech Republic
In the Czech Republic, large mafia groups are engaged in smuggling illegal migrants across the border of the country, usually Ukrainians act as their guides. Information about the criminal scheme was revealed by journalist Magdalena Komurkova in an article for the newspaper Lidovky.
According to the observer, since the beginning of 2022, the police have detained more than 220 guides who tried to illegally transfer Syrian refugees to the Czech Republic. According to her, the Ukrainians, who were nicknamed “foot soldiers”, are doing this. In this way, large organized crime groups earn a lot of money, the article claims.
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Police spokesman for foreigners Josef Urban told the publication that among the detained criminals – 49 Ukrainians, 33 Syrians and 26 Czechs. At the same time, only a few dozen conductors a year were detained in the Czech Republic in past years. The source of the publication explained that after the start of the Russian special operation, thousands of Ukrainians arrived in the European country, who are trying to solve their financial problems in such an illegal way.
The Czech authorities intend to toughen the punishment for guides of illegal migrants, increasing the maximum prison term for such a violation of the law from five years in prison to eight, the newspaper writes.
Earlier, the Slovak authorities accused the Czech Republic of violating the Schengen Code amid the resumption of checks on the Slovak-Czech border. Border checks have stepped up amid a surge in the number of migrants who use the Czech Republic as a transit country on their way to Germany. In turn, the head of the Czech Interior Ministry, Vit Rakusan, objected that Prague does not violate the Schengen Code.
At the end of September, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced that the country had temporarily introduced a border regime on the border with Slovakia. He explained that Prague decided to introduce a border regime because of the large number of illegal migrants crossing into the country from Slovakia.
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