The border guards with the Cenad Border Crossing Point (PTF Cenad), Timisoara County, have detected, in the past days, two groups of citizens from Sri Lanka, while they were attempting to illegally exit the country, hidden in a car driven by a Romanian citizen, the Timisoara Border Police announced, through a release sent on Monday to AGERPRES.

Thus, at the Cenad Border Crossing Point, on Friday, a vehicle presented in order to exit the country, driven by a Romanian citizen aged 27, accompanied by another Romanian citizen, aged 21. At the control conducted, border policemen noted that between the backseat and the front seats there was a woman hidden, while the trunk held another four men, foreign citizens, hiding under a cover.

Following investigation, border police officers found the persons detected to be from Sri Lanka, aged 26 to 53, holders of documents allowing residence in Romania.

Furthermore, on Sunday, border police officers in the Sannicolau Mare sector detected, 50 meters from the border, in the range of the Beba Veche locality, another four Sri Lankan citizens that held residence permits in Romania. The foreign citizens stated that they tried to exit the country illegally, on foot, as they wanted to reach a state in Western Europe and they did not hold a valid visa for the Schengen Area.

In both cases, investigations are being conducted under the coordination of the Prosecutor's Offices teams competent to deal with the illegal border crossing attempt charge for the Sri Lankan citizens, as well as with the smuggling migrants charge brought against the two Romanian citizens. AGERPRES (RO - author: Otilia Halunga, editor: Marius Fratila; EN - author: Razvan-Adrian Pandea, editor: Simona Iacob)