September 20 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Thursday that it had dismantled a network trafficking irregular migrants of African origin from Russian territory to European Union countries, which has generated profits of 60 million rubles (just over 580,000 euros) since 2021.
The group was led by a Nigerian citizen identified as P. Lumumba, who was a professor at the RUDN Engineering Academy, and included other Russians, Ukrainians and Nigerians, the FSB said in a statement.
This network was specialised in organising the entry and transit of people of African origin from Russia to the EU using “tricks” in which they celebrated fictitious marriages to achieve the transfer of paternity of children of Russian citizens and thus obtain a temporary or even long-term residence permit, all in exchange for financial compensation.
“Within the framework of the criminal case initiated by the Main Investigation Directorate of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in Moscow, 25 searches and inspections have been carried out in the Moscow and Vladimir regions, and more than 25 witnesses have been questioned,” the document reads.
Authorities have also seized a “significant amount” of immigration documents, national passports of Nigerian citizens, electronic communication devices and personal computers, as well as funds “obtained through criminal means.”
“Three Russian citizens (originally from the Moscow region) who had been illegally held and exploited by criminals for a long time were found in one of the houses in the Vladimir region and handed over to police officers. Currently, the organizer and five active members of the said group have been detained, investigative actions are being carried out against them and preventive measures have been chosen for them,” the FSB added.
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