Baltic States – CIS, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation, Transport

Luxury cars such as Ferrari, Range Rover and others were driven into Latvia from Russia, crossing the border on own wheels, not in car carrier trailers. They got temporary registration and were sold afterwards. LTV said that the CSDD officials, when registering the vehicles that already had the Latvian registration plates, had turned a blind eye to the fact that the cars had originally been brought here from Russia.

As a result, hundreds of thousands of euros did not get paid into the Latvian budget, and the legalized cars became vehicles of the EU origin that could be sold freely in other countries.

Unofficial sources told LTV that several CSDD employees had reportedly been detained on suspicions of participation in this contraband scheme.

The CSDD would not comment on the alleged involvement of its staff in the contraband. CSDD representative Janis Aizports told LETA that the CSDD had been cooperating with the Customs Police from the very start and had also taken measures to prevent similar contraband cases in the future.

Three employees of the Latvian Road Traffic Safety Directorate (CSDD) have been questioned in relation to the luxury car contraband scheme uncovered by the Customs Police, the public Latvian Television (LTV) reported on Saturday.

CSDD representative Janis Aizpors confirmed to LTV that CSDD employees had been questioned by the Customs Police on the subject of the car registration process.

Having looked into the situation from own perspective, the CSDD has concluded that the cars in question had been imported not from Russia, but from the EU. In opinion of the CSDD, the registration process had been fully legitimate and its employees, who had acted based on the documents presented to them, had not violated any laws or regulations.

All vehicle registrations in Latvia have to be handled by the CSDD therefore it is only logical to probe actions of the CSDD officials during the investigation of a car contraband case, Aizpors said, adding that this probably was the reason why the three employees had been questioned by the Customs Police.