„Added quotes
from V. Kondratovičius, the title of the section “Minister: decisive blow dealt
to smugglers” has been updated
The operation of
the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau was carried out on May 19-21.
“This part (of
the operation – BNS) was also directed against corruption phenomena and persons
related to it. In total, 27 people were detained this week, 13 of whom are not
only police officers, but also officers of the State Border Guard Service,”
Marius Draudvila, Deputy Commissioner General of the Police, reported on
Friday.
According to him,
the law enforcement operation was directed against organized groups that
“cynically act against the national, economic, and security interests of the
Republic of Lithuania,” posing a danger and threat to civil aviation, public
safety, and infrastructure.
“In their
activities, members of the criminal organization used GPS devices, as well as
encrypted communication devices, to know exactly where weather balloons were
landing, where to pick them up, then they would take them for safekeeping, and
then sell contraband cigarettes,” said M. Draudvila.
According to the
Deputy Commissioner General of the Police, members of the organized group used
encrypted communication devices and adhered to a conspiracy.
“In total,
thermal imagers, drones, GPS transmitters, radio stations, numerous SIM cards,
face masks, and packaging materials for contraband cigarettes were seized
during the operations this week,” M. Draudvila indicated.
According to his
data, 74 searches were conducted during the operations, with over 100 police
officers participating in them.
Of the 13
detained officers, three are serving in the State Border Guard Service (SBS),
two of whom are shift supervisors.
The other 10
detained officers are police officers. Eight of them are patrol officers from
the Šalčininkai District Police Station, one investigator from the Vilnius City
Territorial Police Station, and one criminalist (senior investigator) from the
Vilnius County Chief Police Station.
According to M.
Draudvila, these officers used to provide official information to smugglers.
The officers have
been suspended from duty, and it is likely that they will be dismissed later.
According to the leadership of the Police Department, the arrests of the
officers will not have a significant impact on the work of the Šalčininkai
District Police Station, and the safety of the district's residents will not be
affected.
By the way, among
the detainees is also an employee of the Šalčininkai Municipality - a senior
specialist in the utility department.
In this
investigation, suspicions are raised not only about smuggling and criminal
association, but also about helping another state act against Lithuania.
According to Martynas Jovaiša, Chief Prosecutor of the Organized Crime and
Corruption Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General's Office, this
refers to the disruption of airport operations by flying contraband balloons.
"In
committing specific criminal acts, individuals acted in such a way that their
actions corresponded to the interests of other hostile states, so their actions
can be qualified not only under the smuggling article, but also under this
article. This is due to the fact that their actions are directly related to the
policy of a neighboring state. It is harmful not only to the economic situation
in Lithuania, but also to national security," explained Prosecutor M.
Jovaiša.
According to the
prosecutor's office, there are a total of 49 suspects in this pre-trial
investigation, the total value of their seized property reaches 4.2 million
euros.
Minister:
Decisive blow to smugglers
After law
enforcement detained 13 police officers and border guards in an investigation
into cigarette smuggling, Vladislav Kondratovich, the Minister of the Interior,
says they will be suspended from service.
“I assure you
that there is no place for abuse in statutory services and state institutions
and there will be none. All detained officers will be suspended from service,”
V. Kondratovich reported on his Facebook account on Friday.
Among those
detained is an employee of the Šalčininkai District Municipality and three
other individuals suspected of criminal association, smuggling, illegal
possession of smuggled cigarettes and assisting another state to act against
Lithuania.
The minister
thanked officers of the police, prosecutor's office and other services “for
their special attention and the forces they devote to combating organized
criminal groups that carry out smuggling in a manner dangerous to society and
cause extremely great damage to our country.”
V. Kondratovičius
said that he would discuss the situation with representatives of the police and
the State Security Service, whose officers were detained.
“Yes, we will
talk, we have already talked about it a little bit. The plan for those measures
will be separate, what we will do, why this happened, an analysis. I don’t want
to get ahead of ourselves, the investigation is ongoing, but the initial
measures – yes, we will talk about what needs to be done immediately so that
such cases do not happen again,” the minister told reporters on Friday.
“Something was
wrong with our prevention measures, it seems, if that’s the case, something was
wrong, maybe we’ll prepare the officers,” he said.
In V.
Kondratovičius’ opinion, this operation dealt a decisive blow to smugglers
operating in the border area.
“I view (this is
BNS) as a success, but a painful success,” the minister explained.
Prime Minister:
the state did not observe, but acted
After the arrest
of several officers in the investigation into smuggling balloons, Prime
Minister Inga Ruginienė says that this is painful news, but the actions of law
enforcement prove that the state does not observe, but acts.
“Officers who
were supposed to protect the state, defend its border and the trust of the
people were detained, but, as suspected, they could have become part of a
criminal act. This is very painful news for the state and society. It hurts all
officers who serve honestly,” the Prime Minister said in a comment released on
Friday.
“Recently, we
have heard a lot of criticism about the threat posed by smuggled balloons,
about possible inaction, about the state’s ability to protect its border. Today
we can clearly say – the state did not observe, but acted,” says the Head of
Government.
I. Ruginienė
thanked the officers who conducted the investigation. According to her,
“enormous work” has been done in recent months, which included intelligence
activities, evidence collection, and long preparation for the operation.
“This is not the
end. However, today we can say that this is a very important turning point. We
must admit that what has been half-spoken about for many years has been
confirmed – the smugglers’ accomplices are inside the system itself,” said I.
Ruginienė.
According to the
Prime Minister, this story raises serious questions about how such activities
could have continued for many years, why signals about possible criminal acts
were not responded to earlier, how the internal control mechanisms of the
institutions worked, the immunity services, where the heads of the institutions
were.
“This situation
requires not only law enforcement actions, but also a very clear institutional
self-assessment. The Ministry of the Interior will also have to play an
important role here. These questions are not comfortable. But that is precisely
why we must answer them – clearly and in a principled manner,” said I.
Ruginienė.
"I want to
say very firmly - no uniform, position or connection can become a cover for a
criminal act. Where trust in the state and people is betrayed, the reaction
will be principled, strict and decisive," she added.
Commissioner
General: Systemic corruption exists in the police, but officers do not hide
colleagues
After law
enforcement officers detained ten police officers in an investigation into
cigarette smuggling using weather balloons, Arūnas Paulauskas, the Commissioner
General, says that there is systemic corruption in the police, but officers are
able to identify it and do not hide colleagues.
"This shows
that there are systemic problems in the police, such as corruption, although we
have never claimed that we have completely gotten rid of this phenomenon,"
A. Paulauskas told BNS on Friday.
“Secondly, I am
pleased that the police are able to identify such cases on their own, identify
those officers and, what is very important, do not hide and, in this case, do
not defend the cleanliness of their uniform, but nevertheless do everything to
clean themselves up and prevent such cases from occurring in the future,” the
Commissioner General noted.
He spoke this
after law enforcement reported on ten police officers detained in a pre-trial
investigation for suspected smuggling, eight of whom were from the Šalčininkai
District Police Station and two were a criminalist and investigator from the
Vilnius County and City Police Stations.
“I think this
once again indicates certain social problems that also affect the police, when
there are inherently increased-risk police stations operating in border
regions,” said A. Paulauskas.
According to him,
there is no mechanism that would allow rotating officers, removing them from
risky environments and directing them to work in other cities in Lithuania, and
delegating officers from other regions to places such as Šalčininkai.
According to A.
Paulauskas, the absence of such a scheme creates a risky environment.
“After all, there
are probably classmates, children study together in schools and the like. Such
things often have a negative effect, officers are simply involved in the
activities of such organized criminal groups,” said the Commissioner General.
"On Monday,
I will sit with the Minister of Internal Affairs, and I have already made
suggestions that we need to sit down with the Internal Service Statute and
legalize the possibility of rotating officers, perhaps even without their
consent. There is probably a discussion here, ensuring all social
guarantees," A. Paulauskas noted.
He proposes the
idea of providing housing to the rotated officer in another place of
residence, and social guarantees to the family, so that the officer does not
suffer when changing his place of residence.
The Commissioner
General also indicated that so far there is no grounds to dismiss officers
detained on suspicion of abuse.
“Only after a
court ruling, if they are found guilty, will they be dismissed. As far as I
know, prosecutors have applied for suspension and, apparently, all ten of our
police officers will be suspended until the final court decision,” said A.
Paulauskas.“
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