Polish law enforcement officers have uncovered an international criminal group involved in the kidnapping of migrants
In Poland, officers of the Central Investigative Police Headquarters (CBŚP) from Zielona Góra detained four Ukrainian citizens suspected of brutal kidnappings of migrants for ransom in Poland and Latvia. The four individuals will be charged with kidnapping and illegal border crossing.
RMF24 reports this.
The detainees are four Ukrainians who were legally in Poland. The oldest woman is 40 years old, the youngest offender is 20. According to unofficial information, they organized the illegal transportation of migrants who entered the European Union via Belarus.
Information about the gang's activities was received in mid-June, when representatives of a humanitarian organization contacted CBŚP. They received a message in English via an online messenger about the kidnapping of two Ethiopian citizens in Poland. The criminals demanded a ransom in cryptocurrency, threatening to kill the victims or sell their organs. Photos of naked, tied-up men were added to the message.
It turned out that the kidnappers, threatening with a gun, took the men's money and phones, and then transported them to the city of Lubin in the trunk of a car. The victims' families were sent demands for ransom. Luckily, the kidnapped men managed to escape. Witnesses saw naked men on the streets of the city and informed the border guards.
The gang then fled to Latvia, where they kidnapped three Malian citizens. The men were tied up and locked in the trunk of a car. One of them was brutally tied to a tree and beaten with a wooden stick. A video of the torture was sent to the family with a ransom demand.
The Polish police cooperated with the services of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and identified the abductors. At the end of June, with the participation of counter-terrorists, three of them were detained on the S8 highway near Ostrów Mazowiecki. The fourth was detained in the city of Skwierzyna in Lubuskie Voivodeship.
The detainees will stand trial for participating in an organized crime group, kidnapping for ransom and illegal border crossing. Three of them were temporarily arrested. According to the victims, some members of the gang are still at large.
Officers of the Central Headquarters of the Polish Investigative Police (CBŚP) in Zielona Góra detained four Ukrainian citizens suspected of involvement in an international criminal group that kidnapped migrants to extort ransom in Poland and Latvia.
According to law enforcement, all of the detainees were legally in Poland. The oldest suspect is 40 years old, the youngest is 20. The perpetrators organized the illegal transfer of migrants who entered the territory of the European Union via Belarus.
In mid-June, the CBŚP received a report of the kidnapping of two Ethiopian citizens. The information was passed on by humanitarian activists who received messages threatening to extort ransom in cryptocurrency. The criminals threatened to kill the victims or sell their organs, and also sent photos of the men tied up and naked.
The attackers threatened with weapons, took money and mobile phones from the victims, and then transported them to the city of Lubin in the trunk of a car. The families of the victims received ransom demands. The victims managed to escape – they were discovered by local residents and reported to border guards.
After that, part of the group fled to Latvia, where they kidnapped three Malian citizens. They tied them up, one was brutally beaten with a wooden stick and tied to a tree. The video of the torture was sent to the family with ransom demands.
The Polish police are cooperating with the law enforcement agencies of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The abductors have been identified. At the end of June, with the participation of counter-terrorism units, three members of the gang were detained near the city of Ostrow Mazowiecki on the S8 highway, and the fourth in the city of Skwierzyna (Lubusz Voivodeship).
The suspects were charged with creating an organized crime group, kidnapping with ransom extortion, and illegally crossing the state border. Three of them were taken into temporary custody. According to the investigation, some members of the group remain at large.
Let us recall that earlier we wrote about who will live in Ukraine after the war and where the migrants will come from
