Coordinated raids in five countries have led to the arrest of three people suspected of trafficking goods to Russia that could be used for military purposes, the European justice agency Eurojust said on Tuesday.
Authorities from Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Canada and the Netherlands have conducted a joint investigation into the export of technological and laboratory equipment in violation of EU-wide sanctions imposed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
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Dutch police opened an investigation late last year, which uncovered “
a network of companies used to circumvent the ban on exports to Russia
,” according to Eurojust.
The Dutch Tax Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) said two men, aged 56 and 57, were arrested on suspicion of being directors of a Dutch company shipping goods to Russia via the Eastern Europe.
A 54-year-old woman was also arrested on suspicion of taking part in the operation.
Dutch public broadcaster NOS said the smuggled goods were worth hundreds of thousands of euros.
The European Union has already imposed twelve rounds of sanctions on Russia, unprecedented since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. An EU official said last week that Brussels was considering imposing a new round of sanctions on Russia. Russia next month to mark the second anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.