Latvia opens more than 250 criminal cases for violation of sanctions against russia and belarus

Since the introduction of sanctions against russia and belarus, the Latvian State Revenue Service (VID) has initiated more than 250 criminal proceedings for their violation.

This includes 144 criminal proceedings in 2023 and 114 in 2022.

This was stated by Raimonds Zukuls, Deputy Director General of VID for Customs Affairs.

According to Zukuls, the suspects are trying to import mainly various electrical goods, electrical equipment, network equipment, auto parts, and luxury goods to russia and belarus. Instead, they export wood products, fuel, feed, and metal products from russia and belarus.

In the case of plywood, for example, they try to circumvent the sanctions by changing the country of origin or changing the product code. In the case of luxury goods, they change their value.

Zukuls noted that classical smuggling has not disappeared, although there has been a decline since the beginning of the war, which is due to the enhanced protection of the EU's external border.

Last year, Latvian customs seized 7.6 million contraband cigarettes. They are mostly found in railroad transportation on the border with belarus.

Source: Ukrinform, Delfi