Prosecutors from the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS) together with officers from the Intelligence and Security Service (SIS) conducted searches on Monday, July 31, in a drug trafficking case in Ukraine worth about 6.7 million lei in late February 2023, PCCOCS announced in a statement.

The searches took place at the home of Arslan Safarmatov, who fought in Ukraine on the side of Kiev. The man was detained for 72 hours. He said it was “a fabricated file”, reports TV8.

“Specifically, the 178 lighters with hashish-like substance were found in the spare tire space of the car driven by a Ukrainian woman driver, with her father and two minor children. They were stopped in Lipcani, Briceni by the Mobile Teams of the Customs Service for second line control.

According to law enforcement officers, the accused whose home was searched on Monday in the Ciocana sector of Chisinau is alleged to have organised the illicit drug trafficking through smuggling, together with other people. Although he does not admit his guilt, the evidence proves the contrary – which is why PCCOCS prosecutors are going to request his remand in custody, so that the investigations are not hindered,” the Prosecutor’s Office statement said.

As for the evidence seized from the defendant’s apartment, it includes money.

Several goods and sums of money – more than $5,000 and more than €8,000 – have been seized, the provenance of which has yet to be established.

“The search was authorised by the investigating judge. At the same time, we would like to point out that public disclosure of the law enforcement officers’ reasonable suspicion of the man concerned before the searches were carried out would not have served the purpose of an effective investigation of the case. In this context, we assure interested parties that new developments on the case will be communicated to the public, as long as they would not hinder the criminal prosecution, during which the person concerned in the criminal case is presumed innocent, according to the law”, the Prosecutor’s Office communicated.