Latvia opens nearly 100 criminal cases over Russia sanctions violations in 2024
Latvia’s State Revenue Service (‘VID’) has initiated 94 criminal proceedings this year for violations of sanctions against Russia and Belarus, a senior official told public broadcaster LTV.
The figure brings the total number of criminal cases for sanctions violations to more than 300 since EU restrictions were imposed following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to Raimonds Zukuls, deputy director general of the revenue service.
‘The number of cases we have detected is not decreasing,’ Zukuls said, noting that shipments intercepted this year have already exceeded 2,400, surpassing last year’s total of 2,170.
Attempted exports to Russia and Belarus primarily involved cars, tractors, electrical equipment and appliances, while blocked imports included wooden products, animal feed and metal products, he told the TV, as reported by the Baltic Times, 28 October.
‘This potential fraud is carried out by changing the country of origin or misrepresenting the country of origin of the goods,’ Zukuls said. He said this year the volume of smuggled EU-made cigarettes has risen threefold compared to 2023.