Three people have been arrested on suspicion of smuggling goods to Russia following coordinated raids in five countries, according to European judicial agency Eurojust.
Authorities in Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Canada, and the Netherlands have been conducting a joint investigation into the potential export of technological and laboratory equipment that may have violated sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia after it invaded Ukraine.
Late last year, an investigation by Dutch police uncovered “a network of businesses used to circumvent the export prohibition to Russia,” Eurojust said.
The Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) said two men aged 56 and 57 were arrested, suspected of running a Dutch company shipping goods to Russia via Eastern Europe. A 54-year-old woman believed to have participated in the operation was also taken into custody.
Dutch public broadcaster NOS reported that the smuggled goods were valued in the hundreds of thousands of euros.
The European Union has imposed an unprecedented twelve rounds of sanctions on Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A European official announced last week that Brussels is contemplating a new round of penalties against Russia next month, coinciding with the second anniversary of the invasion.
