RUSSIA: Russian police, pursuing a high-profile crackdown on organised crime, arrested several border guards at Moscow's main international airport yesterday for allegedly helping suspected criminals flee the country.
The guards were part of a gang that officials say charged thousands of dollars to make fake passports for fugitives and usher them through passport control at Sheremetyevo airport. The gang stuck US visas in the passports to make them look more credible, police said.
Mr Filip Zolotnitski, a spokesman for Moscow's anti-corruption police, said a special operations team had caught the group and seized 40 fake passports.
Russia's corruption-riddled police have been under close scrutiny this month, after several senior policemen were arrested in raids across Moscow last week, and accused of planting drugs and guns on people and forcing them to pay cash to avoid prosecution.