Police conducted searches of suspects involved in smuggling draft evaders across three border regions.

Residents of Ivano-Frankivsk region have established an illegal channel for smuggling men from Ukraine to Romania and Hungary. They charged at least $10,000 from each client. Border guards, investigators, and migration police conducted 10 searches at the homes of those suspected in the criminal case in Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, as well as in the Rakhiv and Khust districts of Transcarpathia, the Nadvirna district of Ivano-Frankivsk region, and the Vyzhnytsia district of Chernivtsi region.

«The operatives of the Mukachevo detachment found that at the end of December 2024, the organizers attempted to illegally transport a resident of Kyiv region to Romania through this channel. Law enforcement managed to document the transfer of $10,000 and apprehended two organizers of the criminal channel along with their accomplice», – reported on January 18 by the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

During the investigation, authorities were able to identify the locations and residences of other members of the criminal group. The searches uncovered evidence of illegal activities: electronic data storage devices, radios, binoculars, a drone, vehicles, a notebook with rough notes from the suspects, mobile phones, and significant amounts of money in various currencies. So far, suspicion under part 3 of article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine has been announced against two men. They face imprisonment from seven to nine years.

At the same time, the police report about 270 searches in another case involving the smuggling of draft evaders, during which dozens of criminal schemes were uncovered across 19 regions. Among the offenders are mainly private entrepreneurs who included fugitives in the "Path" system, as well as brokers who smuggled conscription-age men bypassing border checkpoints.