A helicopter was found in Transcarpathia, which was used for illegal activities at the border
The multi-purpose helicopter “Aérospatiale Alouette III”, worth more than 150 thousand dollars, was detained yesterday in Transcarpathia.
At 02:00 at night, the soldiers of the State Border Guard Service in cooperation with Hungarian colleagues recorded an illegal border crossing by an unknown aircraft. In cooperation with SBU staff, border guards organized search activities to identify violators.
Soon, an interdepartmental group of officers of the operational-search units of the Mukachevo border detachment together with employees of the SBU Department and the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Transcarpathian region discovered a helicopter in Khust district. In order not to expose the aircraft, the dealers hid it in a mountainous area that is difficult to reach.
In the cockpit of the helicopter there were scattered packs of cigarettes, however, law enforcement officials do not exclude that this aircraft could also illegally transport illegal migrants to neighboring countries. Currently, the information is being checked, law enforcement officers are establishing persons involved in criminal activities.
The helicopter was taken under guard and a pre-trial investigation was launched under Art. 334 Criminal Code of Ukraine “Violation of the rules of international flights”. In addition, border guards together with Hungarian colleagues organized activities to detect violators on both sides of the border.
The detected helicopter has a carrying capacity of 750 kg on the chassis. In the passenger version, it can take on board 6 passengers, reach a speed of about 185 km/h and cover a distance of more than 550 km, while up to half a hundred boxes of cigarettes can be loaded into the luggage compartment of the helicopter.
Comment: spokesman of the Mukachevo border detachment Lesya Fedorov.
State Border Guard Service of Ukraine
