Highest number of illegal immigrants yet held in eastern Latvia

Border guards detained 23 illegal immigrants and seven traffickers in a major operation near Latvia's eastern border, which is the highest number of people held in 24 hours for trespassing the Latvian border, the Latvian State Border Guard reported Thursday.

The operation, which involved trained dogs and a helicopter, was launched after signs of illegal border crossing were detected in the municipality of Skilbeni.

A group of seven Afghans and their traffickers, two Latvian citizens who confessed to leading the Afghan migrants across the border, were apprehended in a forest. Three more Latvians who had also been involved in smuggling the Afghans into Latvia were detained a bit later. The Afghans applied for asylum in Latvia.

Also, a group of eight Vietnamese citizens and a Chechen from Russia were detained in southeastern Latvian municipality of Ludza after an off duty border guard spotted suspicious persons in the area. One Vietnamese woman who had fallen behind the fleeing group was detained right away, but it took two hours of pursuit to catch the remaining seven immigrants and their trafficker.

Another group of eight Vietnamese migrants and a Russian citizen were held in the south-eastern Latvian municipality of Daugavpils, the State Border Guard said.

Of the 222 illegal immigrants detained in Latvia this year, 144 are Vietnamese citizens, while others are Afghans, Russians and citizens of other countries. The Latvian authorities have also detained 44 traffickers for smuggling migrants across the border this year.

In 2014, Latvian border guards detained 139 illegal immigrants and 19 traffickers. Enditem