A Moldovan man, a member of a “criminal group” specializing in the illegal transportation of Ukrainian citizens to Moldova, has been detained by law enforcement officials for 72 hours, police announced on January 24.

The man is 40 years old and was living in Ukraine, also having Ukrainian citizenship. According to police, he was an organiser, identifying Ukrainian men who were illegally trying to leave Ukraine and organising their transportation to Moldova. Earlier, police detained seven other members of the group.

According to police officers, the criminal group was illegally transporting Ukrainian citizens to Moldova in various ways and then taking them to EU countries for large sums of money.

“In the period from February 2022 until now, the suspects being in the R. Moldova as well as in Ukraine, being members of an organized criminal group, previously sharing roles, following the organization of illegal migration from Ukraine to the European Union area of Ukrainian citizens, created a criminal scheme, well organized, using the state of the R. Moldova as a transit area, created conditions for the organization, transportation and entry of foreign citizens into the European Union. They are neither citizens nor residents of this state, with a profit of at least $7,500 per person,” the police announce.

The men intending to cross the border illegally were picked up from various locations in Ukraine and taken to a common location near the Dniester River. Later, according to the police, the Ukrainians were put on a boat together with a member of the group and illegally crossed the river, thus arriving on the territory of Moldova.

“Here (in Moldova, editor’s note), the migrants were picked up by other accomplices and transported to localities in the northern part of the country, where they were accommodated for an indefinite period of time, and then directed to European Union countries,” law enforcement officials say.

Previously, law enforcement officials detained seven members of the group, and now another member has been identified and detained. Police say the 40-year-old man is a Moldovan national living in Ukraine and also holds Ukrainian citizenship. Acting as an organiser, the Moldovan identified men from Ukraine who were illegally trying to leave Ukraine and coordinated the organisation of the transport of migrants by boat across the Dniester River to Moldova.

He was detained for 72 hours and is under criminal investigation for organising illegal migration by an organised criminal group or organisation.

Police officers say that investigations are continuing with a view to identifying and holding criminally responsible other persons involved in the commission of the crime.