A group of migrants being illegally transported in a special hidden compartment of a truck coming from Lithuania was stopped near Budzisko, in the Podlasie region, by officers of the National Revenue Administration (KAS).
Among the detainees were 16 Indian citizens, three Afghans and one Pakistani. The 20-person group was handed over to the Lithuanian side by the Polish Border Guard under a readmission agreement.
The truck driver was a 60-year-old Latvian. He will be detained for three months under suspicion of involvement in human smuggling. The vehicle used for the crime was also seized for the purpose of the investigation.
Radosław Hancewicz, the spokesperson for the Podlasie KAS, stated that the customs officers from Budzisko pulled this truck over for inspection. The driver claimed he was traveling without any cargo, but the KAS noticed his nervous behavior. The officers therefore decided to carry out a detailed check using an X-ray scanner.
“The driver did not comply with the officers’ instructions. He deliberately bypassed the X-ray building and tried to escape from the site where the inspection was taking place,” said Hancewicz.
It turned out that there was a hidden compartment in the front wall of the trailer, where a refrigeration unit should have been. In that concealed space, 20 people were traveling, who were handed over to the Polish Border Guard.
After completing the necessary procedures with them, all were then handed over by the Border Guard to the Lithuanian side.
