WARSAW, November 15. /TASS/. Poland’s prosecutor’s office has accused two Russian citizens of illegally transporting Middle Eastern nationals via Poland to Germany, according to a statement posted on the agency’s website on Monday.
"The prosecutor of the Silesian department of the Directorate on fighting organized crime and corruption of the National Prosecutor’s office in Katowice put forward another indictment regarding the activity of an international organized criminal group organizing illegal border crossing for citizens from Middle Eastern countries. Two citizens of the Russian Federation and one Ukrainian citizen are defendants," the statement noted.
According to the prosecutor’s office, "two organizers of Chechen nationality have been illegally residing in Poland." "A third accomplice who organized the process is still wanted on a European arrest order," the statement said.
The prosecutor’s office accuses them of "organizing the illegal transportation of individuals arriving from Middle Eastern countries to Germany including through Poland for remuneration." The defendants may face up to 8 years behind bars.
According to the Polish prosecutor’s office, this is a third indictment on this case. This investigation has been underway since August 2020. In all, it involves 12 crimes committed by five defendants. "The members of the group worked in many countries, for instance, in Greece, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Germany and Middle Eastern countries," the agency noted.
In 2021, Polish border guards thwarted over 33,000 attempts to illegally cross the Polish-Belarusian border which is 370 times more than last year’s figures. Poland’s law enforcement also regularly detains citizens of various countries who aid and abet the migrants.