Media reveal details of detention of Ukrainian cash-in-transit workers in Hungary

The Counterterrorism Centre of Hungary has seized two Ukrainian cash-in-transit vehicles when they stopped at a petrol station near Budapest.

According to Telex sources, on Thursday 5 March, the Counterterrorism Centre carried out a raid on vehicles with Ukrainian licence plates transporting cash at a petrol station on the M5 motorway.

Security officers pulled people dressed in black from the vehicles and forced them to the ground. Several eyewitnesses observed the raid.

After the operation ended, a convoy of vehicles belonging to the Counterterrorism Centre headed towards Budapest.

Media outlets that had information about the raid sent inquiries to the police and the Counterterrorism Centre but did not receive a response.

On Friday 6 March, the National Tax and Customs Administration of Hungary reported the seizure of the cash-in-transit vehicles and the detention of bank employees from Ukraine, saying the operation was carried out in cooperation with TEK "on suspicion of money laundering".

It was claimed that among those detained was a former general of a Ukrainian security service who was overseeing a shipment consisting of US$40 million, €35 million and 9 kilograms of gold.

The National Bank of Ukraine was the first to report that Ukrainian cash-in-transit staff and a large amount of currency had been seized. The employees were from Oschadbank and were transporting cash from Austria to Ukraine.

It later emerged that the seized vehicles had been taken to the headquarters of the Counterterrorism Centre of Hungary. The structure has previously been involved in anti-Ukrainian provocations linked to the government of Viktor Orbán. Meanwhile, the whereabouts of the bank employees remain unknown.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described these actions as "terrorism and hostage-taking", and the ministry advised Ukrainian citizens to refrain from travelling to Hungary.