$130,000 for a transfer to Moldova: border guards in the Odesa region have foiled a large-scale smuggling operation
Officers from the Podil Border Guard Detachment foiled an attempt to smuggle 13 men across the Transnistrian section of the Ukrainian-Moldovan border.
According to the investigation, a 34-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man from the Odesa region were working with the administrator of a Telegram channel, through which they advertised services to smuggle conscripts abroad and sought potential clients.
The cost of smuggling each person was 10,000 US dollars. According to law enforcement officials, the funds were transferred to the organiser’s crypto wallet. The total amount the organisers were due to receive was approximately 130,000 dollars.
On the administrator’s instructions, men from seven regions of Ukraine travelled to Odesa, after which they set off for the border zone in off-road vehicles. Two lookouts travelled ahead to ensure a clear route.
However, the participants in the scheme did not reach their destination. They were all detained by officers of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
During the investigation, law enforcement officers seized the vehicles and mobile phones.
The organisers were informed that they were suspected of committing a criminal offence. The court ordered them to be remanded in custody, with the possibility of bail set at nearly one million hryvnias and half a million hryvnias respectively.
Thirteen men who attempted to cross the state border illegally were held administratively liable.
