Belarus’ Interior Ministry reported that it had disrupted an illegal migration channel through which more than 70 citizens of Asian countries were brought into the country.
According to the ministry, officers from the 10th Directorate of the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption, together with citizenship and migration units, identified a group that systematically organized the illegal entry and stay of foreigners from South and Southwest Asian countries. The migrants were subsequently supposed to travel to the European Union bypassing border checkpoints.
The detainees rented apartments in Minsk and the capital’s suburbs and housed foreigners without registration or visas. Accommodation cost $100 per person per month. The organizers spent the money on personal needs, including renting expensive property, taxis and holidays abroad.
With the support of officers from the Lynx Special Operations Unit, a 21-year-old Minsk resident and three foreign nationals — a 51-year-old woman and men aged 22 and 41 — were detained.
The Interior Ministry said the Belarusian woman had previously been repeatedly held liable for similar actions. Two of the detained foreigners were themselves in Belarus in violation of migration laws.
Investigators opened two criminal cases over the organization of illegal migration.
