As of 1 July 2026, the Internal Security Bureau (IDB) will take over from the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) responsibility for investigating criminal offences related to corruption committed by officials and employees of the Tax and Customs Police.
Following the transfer of this function, the Internal Security Bureau will ensure independent pre-trial investigations into all criminal offences committed by Tax and Customs Police personnel, both in and off the line of duty. The expansion of the Bureau’s mandate will help establish a consistent approach to pre-trial investigations, prevent fragmentation of responsibilities, and ensure that law enforcement functions are carried out effectively.
Paragraph 5 of the transitional provisions of the Law on the Tax and Customs Police stipulates that the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau will continue investigating corruption-related criminal offences committed by Tax and Customs Police officials and employees until the Internal Security Bureau assumes this responsibility, but no later than 1 January 2029.
The transitional provisions establish the latest permissible deadline for transferring this function while allowing the institutions to complete the transfer earlier.
After assessing its resources and operational priorities and determining that it had the capacity to investigate all criminal offences committed by Tax and Customs Police personnel, the Internal Security Bureau decided to bring forward the transfer of these responsibilities to 1 July 2026.
The Criminal Law Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office has also confirmed that these changes are consistent with the objectives of the regulatory framework and the system for allocating institutional jurisdiction. The changes are a logical continuation of the Internal Security Bureau’s development. In January 2025, the Bureau successfully took over responsibility for detecting, preventing and investigating criminal offences committed by employees of the Prison Administration.
Igors Jaunrodziņš, Head of the Internal Security Bureau, emphasises:
“The expansion of our mandate will enable more efficient use of state resources and eliminate duplication of activities. At the same time, the Bureau’s investigative capacity provides a solid foundation for successfully taking over this function ahead of the statutory deadline. Through constructive cooperation with our colleagues at the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau, we will ensure the complete transfer of responsibilities and ongoing proceedings.
By consolidating investigations and prevention within a single institution, we will strengthen professionalism, establish consistent practices, and become even more effective at detecting and preventing crime.”
Jēkabs Straume, Head of the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau, states:
“It should be recalled that, as part of the structural reform of the State Revenue Service (VID), KNAB’s responsibilities were expanded in early 2025 when it took over from VID the investigation of corruption-related criminal offences involving customs officials and other VID employees. This also applied to employees of the Tax and Customs Police division within VID, which became a separate direct administration institution at the beginning of 2026 and was placed under the supervision of the Minister for the Interior.
In our view, the redistribution of the relevant functions between KNAB and the Internal Security Bureau is a logical and justified step, as the Internal Security Bureau is already the law enforcement institution responsible for investigating criminal offences committed by personnel within the interior affairs sector.”
It should be noted that the redistribution of responsibilities and the consolidation of investigative functions within specialised institutions are consistent with the recommendations contained in the State Audit Office’s 2022 performance audit entitled “Is It Possible to Reduce the Number of Investigative Institutions and Review the Distribution of Responsibilities Between Them?”
The purpose of these measures is to reduce fragmentation among investigative institutions, mitigate potential conflicts of interest, and ensure that criminal offences committed by law enforcement officials are investigated objectively, independently and effectively, while strengthening the state’s duty to protect individual rights and the rule of law as a whole.