Two officials with special status at the Border Police and the Customs Service and two of the organizers of the smuggling scheme were detained on Wednesday, February 1, by the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS), jointly with the Customs Service, in the case of smuggling at the airport with over 120,000 cigarettes on the Chisinau-London flight on December 11, 2022, a statement said.
The suspects are aged between 26 and 41, two of whom are organisers of the smuggling scheme, and two others are officials with special status at the Border Police and Customs Service. Their arrest followed house and car searches in Chisinau.
After hearing the suspects and examining the evidence gathered during the searches, PCCOCS prosecutors will decide whether pre-trial detention is necessary. According to the law, the presumption of innocence prevails over the suspects, PCCOCS representatives said.
