Ex-military officer detained on suspicion of organizing male trafficking abroad in Odesa region

Operatives of the Internal Security Department of the National Police, together with investigators of the Main Investigation Department, detained a 23-year-old Odesa resident, a former military man, on suspicion of organizing a channel for smuggling conscripts abroad.

According to the Main Directorate of the National Police in Odesa Oblast, he created a telegram channel to find clients, where he posted ads for services for illegal crossing of the state border of Ukraine.

Thus, the cost of a ticket to Moldova ranged from 2 thousand to 9 thousand dollars. The police detained the man immediately after receiving $7,000 for providing another service. In exchange for this money, the man promised his client to cross the state border on foot outside the official checkpoints.

Investigators of the Main Investigation Department have already served the suspect with a notice of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 332 - illegal transportation of persons across the state border of Ukraine, and the court imposed a measure of restraint in the form of round-the-clock house arrest.

The sanction of the article provides for up to nine years in prison with disqualification to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years and confiscation of property.

Such crossings can be life-threatening. On September 2, border guards shot and killed a man who was trying to illegally cross the border of Ukraine in Odesa Oblast. The soldiers noticed two men and began to pursue them. The men did not stop, so the border guards started shooting. The SBGS claimed that they only made warning shots. After that, one of the offenders was detained, and the other was found without signs of life. The man had a bullet wound.

Кирило Бойко