ST. PETERSBURG. July 13 (Interfax) - Criminal investigators in St. Petersburg have searched the addresses of the migration directorate of the regional Main Directorate of the Russian Interior Ministry, the press service for the Russian Investigative Committee's (RIC) Main Investigative Directorate for St. Petersburg said on Thursday.
"RIC investigators, together with officers from the regional directorates of the FSB [Federal Security Service] and Interior Ministry, searched the premises, occupied by the Directorate for migration of the Russian Interior Ministry Main Directorate for St. Petersburg and Leningrad region, for the purposes of finding and seizing items and documents of interest to the inquiry, " the statement said.
The St. Petersburg investigators are probing a criminal case over organization of illegal migration and organization of a criminal group.
Last October eleven people were arrested in St. Petersburg, including a municipal deputy, as part of an inquiry into organization of illegal migration.
According to the inquiry, the deputy formed a criminal group whose members forged documents of foreigner registration with migration authorities in Russia.
The Russian Investigative Committee believes that the accomplices have thus legalized at least 100,000 foreigners.