Polish border guards arrested for corruption

14/04/2004

Polish police said on Wednesday they had arrested 23 border guards on the eastern frontier with Ukraine on suspicion of corruption.
Local border police spokesman Henryk Majchrzak was quoted by the PAP news agency as saying the arrests, which had been planned for some time, had been based on solid evidence gathered against the border guards working at Korczowa by police.
"We studied the routines of these people and laid police traps," he added.
The Polish-Ukrainian border is a key thoroughfare for illegal immigrants from Asia and the Middle East, and also a crossing point for smuggled goods.
p> After Poland joins the European Union on May 1, its eastern border will become the bloc's external frontier.
However, checks will continue at the Polish-German border for several years as Poland will not enter the EU's border-free Schengen area until 2007 at the earliest.

http://quickstart.clari.net/qs_se/webnews/wed/cr/Qpoland-crime.RkPI_DOT.html