On Tuesday, the SIS officers and PCCOCS prosecutors detained six members of a cross-border organized criminal group, including three Border Police employees, in a cigarette smuggling case worth more than 2.5 million lei. This case is also investigated by the prosecutors of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) of Romania.
The smuggled cigarettes were packed in about 285,000 packages and were transported to Romania, crossing the border near Ungheni, on January 2 and 3, 2018. When cigarettes were delivered to Iasi, they were sold on the black market and the income was invested in real estate and luxury cars.
In addition to the previously gathered evidence, in order to uncover the involvement of the six detainees, 18 searches were carried out in Ungheni district, including the local Border Police Department, as well as in Hâncești district. Moreover, the investigations from Romania are carried out by the DIICOT prosecutors.
Further, PCCOCS prosecutors are to hear at least six people and bring charges against them, in order to request preventive arrest – time when the persons concerned rely on the presumption of innocence.