Criminal group that organized illegal immigration of citizens for $25 thousand disclosed in Armenia

YEREVAN, November 14. /ARKA/. Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) said today it has disclosed a criminal group that was engaged in organizing illegal immigration.

According to an NSS press release, a group of people together with employees of various travel agencies in Yerevan organized the illegal departure of a number of Armenian citizens to the U.S. through transit countries in return for $25 thousand per person.

The criminal group prepared false documents for the departing persons regarding their employment, salaries and other income so that they could enter transit countries and stay there for some time. These documents were submitted to the authorized bodies in Armenia and abroad.

As a result of searches conducted in the apartments and cars of the criminal group members, as well as in the offices of the travel agencies, numerous false documents, empty blanks for documents, notary journals with records of the sums paid by several dozen citizens, who received permits for illegal entry to foreign countries, as well as photos of passports and foreign entry visas of the citizens who left Armenia due to illegal immigration, and cell phones containing voice messages about the organization of illegal immigration were found and confiscated.

Four members of the criminal group were detained during the investigation, and a decision was made to initiate criminal proceedings against them under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code of Armenia. -0-