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Romanian driver arrested in Poland for smuggling Somali migrants

11.08.2025 14:45
Polish police arrested a 21-year-old Romanian man on Sunday evening after he allegedly attempted to smuggle six Somali nationals through Poland.
Photo: A 21-year-old Romanian man has been arrested in north-eastern Poland after a police and Border Guard chase ended with his car in a ditch, revealing six Somali nationals allegedly being smuggled across the country.
Photo: A 21-year-old Romanian man has been arrested in north-eastern Poland after a police and Border Guard chase ended with his car in a ditch, revealing six Somali nationals allegedly being smuggled across the country. Photo courtesy of the Podlaska Police, north-eastern Poland

The incident took place near the Polish–Belarusian border when the driver failed to stop for a roadside check. Trying to bypass a police roadblock, his Mercedes veered into a ditch and struck a raised manhole.

Both the driver and passengers fled on foot but were quickly apprehended by officers from Hajnówka, in the Podlaskie region of north-eastern Poland.

Two Border Guard patrols joined the police pursuit, while other units in the area were alerted to the Mercedes’s route. In Kuriany, a traffic patrol from Białystok blocked the road with a police car, forcing the vehicle off the road into a ditch where it hit the manhole, bringing it to a halt.

First aid was provided at the scene before all seven were handed over to the Border Guard for further proceedings. The driver faces up to eight years in prison if convicted of facilitating illegal border crossings.

(mp)

Source: X/@podlaskaPolicja/policja.gov.pl