A 50-year-old criminal was arrested at the border with the unrecognized PMR while attempting to smuggle two individuals for escape. The suspect has been informed of the charges against him and faces imprisonment.

Officers from the migration police department of the Odessa region and detectives from police station No. 2 identified the illegal activities of a resident from the Rozdilna district.

It was discovered that the man, acting in conspiracy with an unidentified person who was searching for clients through a messenger for illegal border crossing, agreed to transport the fugitives to the border with the unrecognized Transnistria.

Police documented how the driver met two conscript-age men in Odessa and drove them to the Podil district, where he was to drop them off near the protective ditch of the state border. After receiving detailed instructions on overcoming obstacles, the Odessa residents were to cross into the PMR independently.

However, law enforcement officials prevented the illegal border crossing. With the support of a special police battalion, the criminal and his passengers were stopped 100 meters from the state border, and the transporter was detained.

Investigators seized the suspect's vehicle and his mobile phone, which contained information relevant to the investigation. A court has imposed a seizure on this property.

Currently, investigators have informed the suspect of charges for illegal transfer of individuals across the state border of Ukraine, committed in conspiracy by a group of individuals, punishable by up to seven years in prison. A detention order has been chosen for the suspect.

Investigative actions are ongoing under the procedural supervision of the Suvorov District Prosecutor's Office in Odessa.

As part of the pre-trial investigation, all circumstances of the crime and the complete circle of individuals involved will be established.

Law enforcement officials emphasize that criminal liability for crossing the border is often first borne by individuals who assist others in illegally leaving the country. Vehicles in such cases are seized.

We emphasize: the illegal actions of transporters can be classified as aiding in the illegal transfer of individuals across the state border of Ukraine, which is punishable by up to nine years in prison, with confiscation of property.