Europol allowed cases of arms smuggling from Ukraine to the EU
According to the European police, criminals can be engaged in smuggling, they organize hiding places near the border. The EU also suspects that Ukrainian refugees may be involved in the transport of weapons ” alt=”Europol allowed cases of smuggling of weapons from Ukraine to the EU” />
The EU police service, Europol, has data indicating cases of smuggling of firearms from Ukraine by criminal groups, Tagesschau reports.
“EU Member States and operational partners reported instances of criminal networks operating in the region and carrying out or planning to smuggle significant quantities of firearms and ammunition, including military weapons,” quotes the Tagesschau letter from Europol to the Council of the European Union.
According to the assumption of the European authorities, weapons caches can be equipped along the EU-Ukraine border, and criminals can use official border crossings in their movements. Ukrainian refugees are also suspected of involvement in arms smuggling. Europol indicated that some of them could covertly transport weapons across the border, and the European police also fear that the weapons that refugees left in the border zone when leaving for the EU could fall into the hands of criminals,
The head of Interpol, Jurgen Stock, warned in early June that the conflict in Ukraine would lead to the illegal distribution of weapons, but, according to Stock, this should have happened “in the post-conflict stage.” The stock assumed that even heavy weapons would end up on the black market.
In early July, the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine reported on the sale of military and humanitarian aid that comes to the country from the West. Bureau director Vadim Melnyk said that the department opened about ten criminal cases of this kind, in addition, other Ukrainian law enforcement agencies noted similar facts.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at the same time pointed out that some of the Western weapons for Ukraine had already hit the black market and “spread” across the Middle East. Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev also noted that the weapons that Kyiv receives from Washington are spreading “through the hands of various criminals around the world.”
Read on RBC Pro Pro chapter Samsung Articles Pro How to lift sanctions from a person or company. Step by Step Instructions Pro “We have nothing to hide.” How companies deceive investors with false data Experts on the marginal price of oil Forecasts Pro Up to 600 thousand rubles: how much they hire and how much they pay IT specialists in 2022 – in 6 paragraphs Articles Pro “I'm like a ninja in a street fight”: Ray Dalio – on the impact of meditation