<p class="rtejustify">Officers of the Security and Intelligence Service jointly with the employees of the Customs Service and the PCCOCS prosecutors dismantled a criminal group specialized in particularly large-scale smuggling of consumer goods. They were illegally transported from Ukraine through the Transnistrian region. The members of the group, aged between 31 and 40, were placed under house arrest.</p>
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<p class="rtejustify">The criminal activity of the suspects was stopped as a result of the investigative measures carried out by the specialized services, which determined their modus operandi, the period of time and the route.</p>
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<p class="rtejustify">Four members of the group were caught in flagrante delicto, as a result of an ambush set up at the entrance to Chișinău. Several packages of smuggled clothes were found in one of the stopped cars, while another car was used as a forerunner that monitored the route and warned about any control filters.</p>
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<p class="rtejustify">According to the operational data, the goods were purchased from the “Seventh-Kilometer” market from Odessa and were introduced into the country through the Transnistrian region, circumventing internal customs control. As in other cases, the suspects used rented or borrowed vehicles, regularly changing them in order to avoid any attention of the law enforcement bodies. The found goods are worth over 1 million lei.</p>
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<p class="rtejustify">Investigations into this case continue in order to establish the entire criminal area and to identify all the individuals involved. If the guilt of the detained individuals is proven in court, they risk a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.</p>
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<p class="rtejustify">Video sequences:</p>
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