Prosecutors from the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organised Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS) and officers from the Intelligence and Security Service (SIS) announce on Thursday, 24 August, the detention of three members of a “criminal group” after a seizure of 127 thousand cigarettes and eight million packaging packs.

Two people have been remanded in custody for 30 days at the request of prosecutors. The Chisinau court is to consider another case.

The cigarettes and packaging were taken from a clandestine factory near Chisinau and were intended for smuggling to Ukraine. The scheme was documented by law enforcement officers for three months, followed by searches of a building specialised in processing finished tobacco for cigarettes, the homes of the detained persons, as well as other clandestine warehouses where consumables and raw materials for producing cigarettes were stored, PCCOCS said in a statement.

“Three cigarette production lines were found in the premises, which were responsible for the entire process (grinding, tobacco fermentation, cigarette production and packaging). In addition, about two tonnes of finished or fermented tobacco for the manufacture of cigarettes were seized.

The three men are aged 34, 49 and 58. They were assigned different tasks: the person in charge of managing the production process, one of the organisers of the illicit scheme and the engineer who operated the machinery. After their detention, the PCCOCS prosecutors obtained from the investigating judge the application of preventive custody for 30 days for two of them, and the court will now examine the third application,” the Public Prosecutor’s Office said.

Investigations are continuing, including into other members allegedly involved in the illegal activity, during which time they are presumed innocent by law.