The General Inspectorate of Police (IGP) announced that, following searches carried out on Friday morning, March 10, in Chisinau and the north of Moldova, law enforcement officers seized $11,000 and 400 euros, which were allegedly intended for the organization of mass riots. At the same time, according to the IGP, handcuffs, a substance with a specific smell of marijuana, draft notes and communication and information storage devices were found.

According to the police, the persons under investigation are men aged between 23 and 50, previously convicted of fraud, drug trafficking and theft.

“Among the suspects whose homes were searched are people who recently returned to Moldova from Turkey, where they participated in training for provoking mass disorder and resisting law enforcement, using pyrotechnic articles and applying weapons during the upcoming protests. The searches also targeted people who during the protest on February 28 applied force to law enforcement officers ensuring public order, as well as blocked traffic on the Cricova-Chișinau route,” the IGP statement said.

Police representatives also say that the persons targeted by the searches will be summoned for hearings.

“The file of mass disorder concerns the actions of persons recruited, trained, transported and paid for participation in destabilization actions, starting from September 2022. These include young people with athletic builds, especially athletes, organised in so-called “special groups.” Their mission is to oppose violent resistance to the forces of law and order, including with the use of pyrotechnics and weapons,” the IGP says.

The criminal law provides for imprisonment from 4 to 8 years for mass riots manifested by “organising or leading mass riots, accompanied by the use of violence against persons, pogroms, arson, destruction of property, the use of firearms or other objects used as weapons, as well as violent or armed resistance to representatives of the authorities.”

Investigations are continuing, during which time those targeted are being presumed innocent under the law.

Officers of the Organized Crime Investigation Directorate of the National Investigation Inspectorate (INI) together with investigators of the Criminal Prosecution Directorate and the support of employees of the “Lightning” Special Purpose Police Brigade (BPDS), under the direction of prosecutors from the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS), carried out searches in Chisinau and the north of the republic on Friday morning, March 10, in the criminal case aimed at preparing mass riots.

In the autumn of 2022, lawmen carried out several searches in connection with the preparation of mass riots. At that time, prosecutors announced that they assigned suspect status to eight people and collected 380,000 lei during the searches.

Also seized as a result of the searches were draft notes containing telephone contacts of persons participating in the protests, mobile phones, an unregistered pneumatic pistol, pyrotechnic articles and hemp.