Since September, has been following a Russian-language website on Facebook that offers various jobs in Europe and Finland.
The site has also actively offered work for car drivers. The work has primarily been human smuggling from Latvia primarily to Germany and Poland and through them to other EU countries.
has obtained phone recordings in which a Russian-born person calls one of the advertised numbers from Finland. The true identity of the caller is known to . For his safety, we do not further identify his information.
The actual purpose of the job is not directly clear from the advertisements.
The caller has conversations in Russian with two different organizers responsible for smuggling. The persons are not in Finland. Both organizers spoke perfect Russian in the discussions.
It is clear from the phone conversations that it is human smuggling, and that it is organized.
Drivers are paid $50 to $100 for driving one illegal immigrant.
The price depends on the length of the route towards the German-Polish border. Illegal immigrants hiding in Latvia are searched for in constantly changing places.
There are two routes available.
On the short route, from the Latvian border onwards, drivers are advised to use more spacious cars, even a bus, which can accommodate 35–40 people. Passengers are instructed to remain invisible during the journey, even to lie down in the car.
On the longer route, towards the border between Poland and Germany, the recommended car is an estate car with tinted rear windows.
Illegal immigrants are left at the Polish-German border. The organizers have to make a video recording as proof of cheating.
The salary is paid in cryptocurrency to the crypto wallet established by the driver. Cryptocurrency is commonly used in criminal activities.
According to the Russian organizer, it is easy to exchange dollars in Poland, for example, but also in various parts of Europe.
In a phone conversation, the Russian organizer gloats about how illegal immigrants pay “insane amounts to get to a happy life in Germany, the Netherlands, France.”
One of the organizers says that he has been “in the business” for seven years, and human trafficking has flourished for many years.
The drivers are offered a human smuggling gig almost every day, both Russian organizers promise.
Smuggling also extends to Finland
asked the authorities what they know about the phenomenon in question.
According to the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri), more than 60 asylum seekers from Belarus have come to Finland since the beginning of the year. In total, there have been around 150 people since June 2021.
It is reported from Migr that there are indications of smuggling among the arrivals.
– We have not done a more detailed analysis specifically of smuggling at the Immigration Office, says the chief inspector Niina Naakka from the asylum unit.
The phenomenon is recognized in the Border Guard’s criminal investigation.
The head of the unit Tomi Kivenjuuren according to the effort to recruit helpers and drivers for human smuggling from different countries.
According to Kivenjuuri, recruitment is also possible among Russians living in Finland.
– In individual cases, it is difficult to guess the attractors. Often it is an easy opportunity to make money, Kivenjuuri tells .
In Finland, it is a crime. It is being investigated as the crime of organizing illegal immigration or as an aggravated form of it. The crime is investigated in the country where it occurred.
Investigator of the intelligence department of the Central Criminal Police Juho Partanen does not comment on individual nationalities, or whether a governmental actor is behind the activity.
– However, according to our observations, the phenomenon does not mainly target Russian citizens in Finland or the Schengen area, Partanen answers to .
Latvia is struggling against record immigration
Latvia has been the target of a huge amount of illegal immigration from Belarus this year.
By mid-November, the Latvian border guard has already stopped 13,500 illegal immigrant at the border between countries.
Illegal immigrants sent by Belarus are primarily young men from the Middle East and Africa. There have also been women and children in the group.
Of them, more than 400 people have received asylum in Latvia this year for humanitarian reasons.
How many of Latvia’s illegal immigrants eventually make their way forward with smugglers – that is not known.
On the busiest days, there are dozens of illegal border crossings or attempted crossings, even quite a few at the best a hundred.
Due to the situation, Latvia has closed I smooth the border station On the border with Belarus.
A human carousel rotates at the border
Close to the Latvian border, inland, a fierce cat and mouse game is going on every day.
Undocumented, illegal immigrants flee through the forests from being caught by the Latvian border guard, in order to get on board the smugglers and onward.
They do not want to stay in Latvia, because the asylum systems and benefits of Germany and other EU countries are perceived as attractive.
There is practically a human carousel going on.
Latvia returns apprehended illegal border crossers back to Belarus. A border guard officer tells a Latvian newspaper in the interviewthat Belarus will then drive the same people back to Latvia.